March 2015 has in many ways been a typical March - one where it felt like two months rolled into one. We've had generally settled, if slightly cool weather for most of the month, but also two notable spells of rain - between the 8th and 13th and again between the 23rd and 31st. This wet spell at the end of the month gave us 38mm of rain, with 15mm alone on the 30th, and altogether this accounted for 60% of the rain for the entire month.
During the drier spells it's often felt very pleasant. We reached a maximum temperature quite early in the month, a heady 14.3°c on March 7th, but all this does is highlight how temperatures have generally been suppressed ever since. More than half the month shows a predominant wind direction between a westerly to a north-westerly, and this has been the reason why there's been an edge to the temperatures throughout. This isn't untypical for March, and the prevailing weather pattern has been very March-like, with several low pressure systems running through over Scotland or further north, and us picking up a cold airflow from the North Atlantic.
We've had some strong winds too, particularly at the end of the month, where we recorded our highest wind speeds to date (since November 2014). Apart from a calm spell in the middle of the month, the wind has been noticeable throughout.
So how does this March compare to a 'typical' March in Blackburn? Based on data from MSN and Weatherbase.com, March in Blackburn should average about 7°c, with mean highs around 9°c and lows around 3°c. We recorded a mean temperature of 5.2°c, with a mean maximum of 8.8°c and mean minimum of 1.6°c. So, simply looking at average temperatures, this March was slightly cooler than we'd expect. Our 64.8mm of rain is close to the 61.9mm figure reported by MSN for our area, but some way above 50mm reported on Weatherbase.com. Having lived in Blackburn all my life, I'd expect the higher figure to be closer to the mark, which means our rainfall has been pretty typical. We had 19 days when rain fell, close to the 20 and 21 reported on the internet, so again fairly typical. Our two days of snow (although fairly insignificant on both occasions) is what we'd expect for a Blackburn March too.
All in all we're not seeing anything out of the ordinary at the moment, but after a cool winter we're looking forward to some better weather to come as spring takes hold.
