Weather in Malaga – March 2017

The average maximum temperature during March 2017 in Malaga was 19.9 Celsius (64F), and that was 0.9 Celsius (1.5F) above normal for the time of year. Average maxima were the highest in March for 9 years. The average minimum temperature was 11.1 Celsius (52F), and that was 0.1 Celsius (0.2F) below the normal March value.

The highest temperature recorded during the month was  27.4 Celsius (81F) and there were 2 other days, the 11th and 20th, when the temperature rose above 26 Celsius (79F). There were only 2 other days, the 10th and 12th, when the temperature exceeded 23 Celsius (73F), but on 11 further occasions the afternoon temperature was above 20 Celsius (68F). There were a few chilly days during March, and on 6 days the temperature remained below 17 Celsius (63F). On 3 of these cooler days, the 14th, 24th and 25th , the temperature stayed below 16 Celsius (61F). However, the only day with a high below 15 Celsius (59F) was the 14th when a maximum of 14.5 Celsius (59F) was measured.

There were several fairly mild nights during March, these mostly occurring before mid month. On 3 nights, the 6th, 11th and 12th, the temperature stayed above 15 Celsius (59F), but the only one of these milder nights with a minimum above 16 Celsius (61F) was the 12th when a low of 16.8 Celsius (62F) was recorded. There were 7 nights with minima above 12 Celsius (54F) before mid month, and only 4 with similar minima after mid month. In fact, the coolest nights of the month, those with minimum temperatures below 10 Celsius (50F), mainly occurred after mid month. Of the 10 coolest nights, there were 3 occurring between the 2nd and 4th, with the other 7 logged between the 23rd and 30th. There were only 3 nights with minima below 7 Celsius (45F), the consecutive nights 24th, 25th and 26th. The middle of these 3 nights was the only one with a value below 6 Celsius (43F). The coldest night of the month had a low of 5.5 Celsius (41F), and this was colder than any night during February.

The sea temperature varied little throughout the month with daily values around 15 Celsius (59F), but nearer 16 Celsius (61F) at the end of the month.

There were 28.4  millimetres (1.1 ins.) of rain during March, and that was over 40% below average.  Even so, it was the wettest March for 4 years. There were 7 days with measurable rain and that was normal for the month. The first rain of the month occurred on the 3rd when showery rain mid to late afternoon amounted to 1.5 millimetres (0.06 ins.) Occasional light rain fell on the following morning but only produced 1 millimetre (0.04 ins.). After over a week of dry and very sunny weather, showers occurred on the afternoon of the 13th and gave another 1 millimetre of rain. The 14th was a particularly unpleasant day with outbreaks of rain, heavy at times. The total of 19.8 millimetres (0.8 ins.) made it the wettest day of the month. Showery rain produced 0.5 millimetres (0.02 ins.) overnight on the 17th, and a local short-lived downpour gave 4.3 millimetres (0.17 ins.) during the evening of the 26th. Finally, a decaying shower gave 0.3 millimetres (0.01 ins.) just after midnight on the 27th.

There was lightning observed to the south on the evening of the 13th, but the only thunderstorm, occurred when a rather unexpected shower developed around Mijas and turned thundery as it moved east on the evening of the 26th.

The wind  through March mainly followed a typical early spring pattern with northwesterly land breezes dominant, and with only fairly brief afternoon sea breezes. However, there were a few days when northwesterly winds persisted throughout the day and were quite strong and blustery. These days coincided with some of the highest temperatures. There were 3 days that differed from the general pattern. Both the 2nd and 16th had a wind blowing predominantly from a south to southeasterly direction. The 14th was also different. It was very windy, and for a while an easterly levanter blew resulting in a gust of 37 knots (42 mph). There were 10 other days when gusts exceeded 20 knots (23 mph), but the only other day with gusts above 30 knots (34 mph) was the 3rd when 31 knots (35 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	27.9	4.7	36	30	6
Granada Airport	29.7	-2.0	27	7	5
Almeria	24.3	6.9	45	26	3
Seville	28.4	3.3	55	25	8
Cordoba	29.6	2.1	45	23	9
Jerez de la Frontera	29.4	1.3	67	26	8
Murcia	33.6*	3.8	48	30	3

 * A new record

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