MARCH 2025 DRIER AND SUNNIER THAN AVERAGE, AND MUCH WARMER
Armagh Observatory, 4th April 2025: Armagh Observatory stories that March 2025 was drier and sunnier than common, and far hotter. This was driest March at Armagh for 13 years, persevering with a sequence by which every month since final April has been drier than common. It was additionally the sunniest for 3 years and the warmest for 13 years. The imply temperature was 8.3 levels Celsius (46.9 Fahrenheit). This was roughly 2.5 C hotter than the 225-year long-term (1796-2020) common March temperature at Armagh (5.82 C) and 1.5 C hotter than the newest (1991-2020) 30-year March common (6.75 C). This was the eighth warmest March on document at Armagh and the warmest since March 2012 (imply temperature 8.9 C). Six of the final seven years have had common March temperatures higher than the newest 30-year common.
A comparability with the (1961-1990) 30-year March common (6.02 C) means that imply March temperatures at Armagh are growing at a charge of roughly 0.24 C per decade. The month was additionally dominated by comparatively excessive atmospheric stress. This led to a median barometric stress at Armagh diminished to imply sea stage of roughly 1018 mbar, the very best common March stress at Armagh for 3 years. This was roughly 3.8 mbar larger than the newest (1991-2020) 30-year March common stress (1014 mbar).
Excessive stress typically results in clearer-than-average skies, and to a bent for days to be sunnier and hotter than common. Conversely, clear skies can typically result in comparatively low nighttime temperatures.
This month, the common each day most temperature was 12.6 C, roughly 2.2 C hotter than the corresponding most up-to-date (1991-2020) 30-year March common (10.4 C). This was the fourth warmest such common on document, shared with March 1929, 1938, and 1961, and the very best such common at Armagh since 2022 (12.8 C). In distinction, the month-to-month imply of the each day minimal temperatures (4.0 C) was simply 0.9 C above the corresponding most up-to-date (1991-2020) 30-year common (3.1 C), displaying that, on common, the higher-than-average heat of the times was higher than that of the nights, according to the instructed impact of the month’s comparatively excessive stress. The best air temperature, or warmest day, this month was 18.2 C on the thirty first adopted by 16.2 C, which occurred on three days (the eighth, ninth, and thirtieth). This was the warmest day of the yr at Armagh as much as the top of March, but it surely was not an exceptionally heat day for late March. For comparability, the warmest March day on document at Armagh is 21.8 C on 29 March 1965. The bottom most air temperature, or coolest day, was 7.8 C on St Patrick’s day, adopted by 9.0 C on the eleventh and 9.1 C on the first. At Armagh, the utmost temperature on St Patrick’s day was a lot cooler than the newest (1991-2020) 30-year common for that day (10.7 C), and though dry there was no sunshine. The best minimal air temperature, normally the warmest night time, was 10.3 C on the thirty first, adopted by 9.4 C on the twenty seventh and eight.6 C on the twenty second. The bottom minimal air temperature or coolest night time was -2.7 C on the nineteenth, adopted by -2.2 C on the fifteenth, and -1.1 C on the thirteenth.
There have been 16 nights with floor frost (minimal grass temperatures lower than or equal to zero Celsius), of which the three coldest have been -9.5 C on the fifteenth, -8.3 C on the nineteenth, and -7.8 C on the 18th. There have been 5 nights with air frost, the three beforehand talked about and the twentieth (-0.9 C) and eleventh (-0.4 C).
The month of March, the primary of the meteorological spring, is normally one of many drier months of the yr. Contemplating that the 2 earlier Marches have been unseasonably moist, it’s maybe unsurprising that March 2025 was a lot drier than common. It was, the truth is, the eighth driest March on document at Armagh and the driest since March 2012 (16.9 mm of precipitation together with 6 hint values). Complete precipitation was 17.85 mm together with 5 hint values, or 17.6 mm if hint values are ignored. That is roughly 32% of the 183-year long-term (1838-2020) common March precipitation at Armagh (55.7 mm) and 30% of the newest (1991-2020) 30-year common (59.7 mm), persevering with an fascinating development by which each month since final April has been drier than common. Thus far, April 2025 is already shaping as much as be comparatively dry.
The wettest day was the twenty eighth, with 5.6 mm of rainfall, adopted by 5.5 mm on the twenty second and a couple of.2 mm on the twenty seventh. There was no snow this month, however a heavy rain bathe with hail occurred late morning on the twenty eighth. A rainbow was seen late afternoon the identical day.
Roughly 50 gulls have been noticed circling across the met station on the morning of the fifth. This was a boring however in any other case dry day with a cool, contemporary breeze.
With a complete of 119.7 hours of robust sunshine, this March was sunnier than common, roughly 17% greater than the 140-year long-term (1881-2020) common March at Armagh and 16% greater than the newest (1991-2020) 30-year common (103.0 hours). This was the sunniest March at Armagh because the record-breaking sunny March 2022 (188.4 hours of robust sunshine). The sunniest days have been the ninth and thirtieth (each 9.4 hours of robust sunshine), adopted by the twenty fourth with 9.1 hours.
These information confer with observations at Armagh Observatory, which has been recording the climate at Armagh since 1795.
For additional data, please contact:
Professor Mark E. Bailey
Emeritus Director of Armagh Observatory
Armagh Observatory and Planetarium
School Hill
Armagh
BT61 9DG
