Weather in Malaga – March 2018

The average maximum temperature during March 2018 in Malaga was 18.6 Celsius (66F), and that was 0.4 Celsius (<1F) below normal for the time of year. The average minimum temperature was 11.2 Celsius (52F), and that was normal for March.

The highest temperature recorded during the month was  22.8 Celsius (73F) on the 27th, but there were 6 other days when the temperature rose above 20 Celsius (68F). There were 4  consecutive days, from the 26th, when maxima were above 20 Celsius (68F), including a further 2 days, the 28th and 29th, when the temperature peaked above 22.0 Celsius (72F). On most days, the highest temperature was between 17 and 20 Celsius (63-68F), but there were 5 days when the maxima stayed below 17 Celsius (63F). The period between the 20th and 23rd contained 3 of these cooler days, with the lowest temperature of 15.3 Celsius (60F) recorded on the 20th.

There were no particularly mild nights during March, but  minimum temperatures were above 12 Celsius (54F) on  8 nights. Only 3 of these milder nights had lows above 13 Celsius (55F), including 2 with minima above 14 Celsius (57F). On the 29th, a low of 14.3 Celsius (58F) was recorded, but the mildest night was the 10th when a reading of 14.6 Celsius (59F) was logged. There were no especially cool nights during March, although temperatures fell below 10 Celsius (50F) on 6 occasions. On 3 of these cooler nights the temperature dipped below 9 Celsius (48F). The coolest spell was between the 20th and 22nd, and included a low of 7.8 Celsius (46F) on the morning of the 21st.

The sea temperature, around 15 Celsius (59F) at the beginning of the month, soon fell to 14 Celsius (57F), where it remained for the rest of the month, except for a brief interlude of 13 Celsius (55F), commencing at the end of the third week.

There were 170.3 millimetres (6.7 ins.) of rain during March, over 3.5 times the monthly average. This was the wettest March at this site since records began in 2006. It was the wettest March in the area since 2004. Rain fell on 17 days, and that was a new record for any month. The average number of rain days for March is 7. There were 12 wet days*. Showers, or longer spells of heavy rain, gave 55.6 millimetres (2.2 ins.) on the 1st. In fact, the monthly average of 49 millimetres (2 ins.) had been exceeded by midday! Although the afternoon was dry, further heavy rain occurred during much of the 2nd. By the end of the second day of March the total had risen to 98 millimetres (3.9 ins.) Further heavy rain occurred at times during the following week, and totals included 12.4 millimetres (0.5 ins.) on the 4th, and over 10 millimetres (0.4 ins.) on the 8th. The last rain of this spell occurred on the 11th, when 4.8 millimetres (0.2 ins) were measured. It brought to an end a record-breaking 15 consecutive days of rain, during which a total of over 170 millimetres (6.7 ins.) fell. Although the worst of rain was over by the middle of the second week, the weather remained fairly unsettled. On the 15th, almost 8 millimetres (0.3 ins.) of rain were measured, with nearly 7 millimetres (0.3 ins.) on the 18th. On the 24th, a further 3.6 millimetres (0.12 ins.) were added to the total,   but the overnight fall of 0.8 millimetres (<0.12 ins.) proved to be the last measurable rain of the month.

There were 3 slight thunderstorms during March, these occurring on 2 days. The first storm was around dawn on the 1st, followed by another rumble of thunder mid-morning on the same day. Thunder also occurred during a shower early in the afternoon on the 10th.

Northwesterly winds dominated on 26 days during March, with sea breezes from either the southeast or southwest occurring very infrequently. The northwesterly land breeze was often quite strong, and gusts exceeded 20 knots (23 mph) on 14 days. The highest gust was 30 knots (34 mph) and this was recorded on both the 5th and 24th.

There was no fog observed in  west Malaga during March.

Reporting Station	Highest Temp	Lowest Temp	Rain Total (mm)	Wettest	Rain days
Malaga Airport	24.8	7.1	192	69	13
Granada Airport	24.4	-0.1	193	32	24
Almeria	23.5	6.6	55	12	12
Seville	26.5	3.8	148	34	20
Cordoba	25.4	0.8	222	27	24
Jerez de la Frontera	25.1	2.7	263	27	23
Murcia	29.3	5.2	12	5	12

Climatology for March

Reporting Station	Extreme High Temp	Extreme Low Temp	Average Rain (mm)	Extreme Wettest day (mm)	Average Rain days
Malaga Airport	31.4	-1.2	49	102	4
Granada Airport	30.0	-7.6	30	43	5
Almeria	27.2	2.6	15	36	3
Seville	30.8	-2.0	38	75	5
Cordoba	30.6	-4.2	40	80	5
Jerez de la Frontera	30.6	-2.4	42	60	5
Murcia	33.6	-4.2	30	46	3