Weather in Malaga – March 2016

The average maximum temperature during March 2016 in Malaga was 19.6 Celsius (68F), and that was 0.7 Celsius (1F) above normal for the time of year. The average minimum temperature was 10.8 Celsius (51F), and that was 0.4 Celsius (1F) below the normal March value.

The highest temperature recorded during the month was 25.9 Celsius (79F) on the 26th, and the temperature also rose above 25 Celsius (77F) on the 25th. The warmest weather occurred at either end of the month with the first 4 days, and 7 out of the last 8 days, each recording maxima above 20 Celsius (68F). The only other day when this figure was exceeded was the 16th when 21.0 Celsius (70F) was measured. There were no particularly cold days during March, but there were 5 occasions when the temperature failed to rise above 17 Celsius (63F). There were 4 of these colder days during the first half of March, but the coldest day of the month was the 21st when a high of only 14.4 Celsius (58F) was recorded.

There were no exceptionally mild nights during March but on 5 occasions the temperature stayed above 13 Celsius (55F). On 2 of these nights the minimum was above 14 Celsius (57F). The 25th/26th had a low of 14.4 Celsius (58F), but the following night was the mildest of the month with a low of 14.6 Celsius (59F). There were 12 nights when the temperature fell below 10 Celsius (50F), with 8 of these cooler nights occurring before mid month. There were only 3 nights when the minimum dipped below 8 Celsius (46F). The 6th/7th and 8th/9th each had lows between 7 and 8 Celsius (45-46F), but the coolest night of the month was the 12th/13th when a low of 6.5 Celsius (44F) occurred.

The sea temperature was around 14 Celsius (57F) for most of the month, occasionally rising to 15 Celsius (59F), and more generally reaching this value over the last few days of March.

There were 13.3 millimetres (0.5 ins.) of rain measured during March and that was only around a quarter of the monthly average. Significant rain (0.2 millimetres (0.01 ins.) or more) fell on 5 days and that was 2 days below average for the month. The first rain fell on the afternoon of the 7th, and although only 5.1 millimetres (0.2 ins.) fell, it proved to be the wettest day of the month. After a lengthy dry spell, further rain fell towards the end of the third week. On the 19th, light rain in the the morning and late afternoon showers produced nearly 3 millimetres (0.1 in.) of rain, and light showers fell on the afternoon of the 20th. A day of sunshine and showers on the 21st produced nearly 5 millimetres (0.2 ins.) of rain, with the last showery day, the 23rd, adding a mere 0.5 millimetres (0.02 ins.) to the total.

There was 1 distant rumble of thunder over the Sierras de Mijas on the afternoon of the 20th.

It was a breezy month with overnight northwesterly land breezes persisting through the day with afternoon sea breezes either weak, or turning into brisk southwesterlies running along the beach. During the unsettled spell at the end of the third week the northwesterly wind became temporarily less dominant, and generally later in the month the wind was less brisk. On 11 days, gusts of  20 knots (23 mph) or more were recorded, and that included 9 out of the first 10 days of the month. However, the breeziest day was the 31st when a gust of 26 knots (30 mph) was recorded.

There was no fog observed in west Malaga during March.

Reporting Station	Highest Temp	Lowest Temp	Rain Total (mm)	Wettest	Rain days
Malaga Airport	26.6	5.0	11	5	4
Granada Airport	29.7	-3.2	16	8	6
Almeria	21.7	6.6	2	2	1
Seville	25.0	3.4	29	12	7
Cordoba	26.0	-0.1	39	11	7
Jerez de la Frontera	26.4	1.1	33	14	6
Murcia	28.0	4.6	26	16	3

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	33.0	-4.2	30	46	3