Third wettest March on record

March 2015 was the third wettest March on record with the highest number of rain and thunderstorm days ever for March too. March 2015 was also colder than average with the mean monthly temperature of 13.5°C being 0.9°C below average.

The average maximum monthly temperature of 16.2°C was 1.4°C below average while the average minimum monthly temperature of 10.8°C was 0.5°C below average.

The coldest March ever was in 2003 with a mean monthly temperature of 13.1°C while the warmest ever was in 2001 with a mean monthly temperature of 17.1°C.

The warmest day in March 2015 was on the 4th with a high of 21.9°C while the coldest night in March 2015 was on the 11th with a low of 7.7°C. The warmest March day ever was on 25th March 2001 with a high of 33.5°C while the coldest March night ever was on 9th March 1993 with a low of 4.8°C.

A total of 75.4mm of rain were measured in March 2015. This was almost double the mean of 39.5mm. There were 18 days of rain, 9 days with lightning or thunder and 3 days with hail. The wettest March ever was in 1996 with 125.0mm while the driest ever was in 2000 with a mere 4.7mm.

The wind blew mainly from the westnorthwest with an average wind speed at Zebbug Malta of 15.4 km/h. The strongest gust at Zebbug Malta was of 68.5km/h on the 30th from a westnorthwesterly direction as a system of low pressure moved southeastwards across the Adriatic Sea.

The mean monthly sea-level pressure was 1015.4hPa, with the highest of 1025.1Pa on the 2nd and the lowest of 998.2hPa on the 24th as an intense frontal system over Algeria moved northeastwards across the central Mediterranean.