Last month was the second wettest March in Armagh since rainfall records began 181 years ago!
Armagh Observatory has released its monthly weather findings and describes March 2019 as “much wetter than average” and “much duller than average and very mild”.
Total March rain was 112.05 mm (4.41 inches), more than twice the long-term (1838-2010) average March precipitation at Armagh and nearly 71% more than the most recent 30-year March average.
This was the second-wettest March on record at Armagh since rainfall records began in 1838 and the wettest March at Armagh for 72 years.
The three wettest March months at Armagh are now 1947 (114.70mm), 2019 (112.05 mm) and 1903 (111.60 mm).
The wettest day was the 15th, with 20.9 mm (0.8 inches) of precipitation, followed by the 5th and 8th with 16.5 mm and 14.5 mm of rainfall respectively.
Although there was measurable precipitation on each of the first 18 days of the month, the last 13 days were much drier, with measurable rainfall on only two days.
Snow was reported falling on two days, and hailstones on a third day.
The mean monthly temperature was 7.52 degrees Celsius (45.5 Fahrenheit), 1.74 C warmer than the long-term (1796-2010) average March temperature at Armagh and 0.85 C warmer than the most recent (1981-2010) 30-year March average. This was the warmest March at Armagh for two years.
The warmest day (highest maximum air temperature) was 15.7 C, which occurred on the 28th, followed by 15.0 C on both the 19th and 20th.
The warmest night (highest minimum air temperature) was 10.2 C on the 21st, followed by 10.0 C on the 22nd. The coldest day (lowest maximum air temperature) was 6.4 C on both the 4th and 10th, followed by 7.4 C on the 3rd. The coolest night (lowest minimum air temperature) was -1.6 C on the 31st, followed by 0.7 C on the 17th.
There were 15 nights with ground frost (minimum grass temperature less than or equalto zero), of which the coldest was -9.6 C on the 31st followed by -4.5 C on the 8th. There was just one night, namely the 31st, withnnighttime air frost.
With a total of 77.4 hours of strong sunshine, March 2019 was much duller than average, with approximately 70% of the long-term (1881-2010) average number of hours of strong sunshine at Armagh and nearly 79% of the most recent (1981-2010) 30-year average. The sunniest day was the 28th with 8.3 hours of strong sunshine, followed by 6.8 hours on the 24th.
These data refer to observations at Armagh Observatory, which has been recording the weather at Armagh since 1795.
