March 2006

My March

Temperature: A mean temperature of 12.9C, the coolest March since I started recording temperature in 2000. Warmest day was the 1st with 26.7C and the coldest temperature, 2.4C was recorded on the 26th. The warmest March I've recorded was 2003 with a mean of 15.4C

Wind: The monthly wind run of 5643km makes March 2006 the most windy I've recorded from 2001 when I started recording the wind. March also created a new record gust speed for my station with 82km/h. The previous record was a 76km/h southerly gust 5th June 2002. Prevailing wind direction was south recorded 44% of the month with NE was recorded 35% of the month. The third prevailing direction was North with 13%.

Rainfall: 66.2mm of rain fell on 13 days, the wettest March I've recorded since 2000 with the highest number of days with recorded rainfall. Average number of rain days for the past 6 years in March is 8 with a average rainfall of 35.3mm. The driest March I've recorded was 2001 with 3 days of recorded rainfall and a monthly total of 5.8mm.

Barometer: The highest pressure so far this year was recorded on the 25th with 1035.9hPa (officially 1034.5hPa at 12 noon at the airport). My reading is higher then the actual pressure at the time and I have now re-calibrated my barometer.

March 2006 Summary Temperature
Mean	12.9 C
Mean Maximum	18.1 C
Mean Minimum	8.5 C
Maximum High	26.7 C (1st)
Maximum Low	13.2 C (15th)
Minimum High	13.3 C (28th)
Minimum Low	2.4 C (28th)
Wind Speed and Direction
Maximum Gust	82 km/h (3rd)
Mean	7.7 km/h
Wind Run	5643 km
Max Daily Windrun	570 km (3rd)
Prevailing Direction	South
Barometer
Maximum	1035.9 hPa (25th) (officially 1034.5 at the airport)
Minimum	986.4 hPa (7th)
Mean	1014.3 hPa
Max Daily Change	+20.2 hPa (12th)
Rainfall
Days with Measured Rainfall	13
Max Daily Rainfall	16.4 mm (4th)
Monthly Rainfall	66.2 mm
Humidity
Maximum	95 % (23rd)
Minimum	23 % (8th)

March Daily Observations
Temperature				Wind				Rainfall		Barometer
Date	Min	Max	Mean	Mean (Km/h)	Gust (Km/h)	Run (km)	Prevailing Dir	10 Minute Max (mm)	Total (mm)	Min (hPa)	Max (hPa)	Change (hPa)
1	8.5	26.7	16.0	11.5	50	270	North East	1.0	3.0	1004.0	1019.3	-15.3
NE winds with high cloud in the morning. A change to warm west to nor'west winds in the afternoon followed by a cool gusty southerly change late afternoon. Some rain late evening.
2	4.4	16.9	11.3	2.3	24	54	North	0.6	2.6	1000.6	1015.6	-15.0
Early morning rain. Cloudy with light breezes.
3	8.4	14.0	11.8	24.2	82	570	South	0.4	1.6	1002.6	1010.8	+8.2
Strong to gale southerly winds with squally showers, some with hail. 82km/h is the highest wind gust I have recorded at my station. The wind run of 570km is just exceeded by the southerly on the 5th Oct 2005
4	7.4	13.7	9.5	13.8	54	325	South	2.2	16.2	1010.3	1014.2	-3.9
Squally showers, some with hail clearing by early afternoon. Cold southerly winds easing during the afternoon and cloud breaking.
5	4.0	19.5	11.4	4.8	32	113	North East	0	0	992.8	1010.4	-17.6
Morning cloud clearing with north to NE winds. Cloud increasing in the eveing with a cool southerly change but remaining dry.
6	5.4	24.0	14.8	9.4	47	220	North East	0	0	990.6	1002.6	-12.0
Sunny with a gusty NE wind turning NW later in the afternoon.
7	12.6	21.1	16.3	8.2	32	193	North	0	0	986.4	991.5	-5.1
Morning cloud with northerly winds. A southerly change brings a few spots of rain. Winds turning NE in the afternoon with cloud clearing.
8	8.2	24.4	13.7	4.3	54	102	South	0.4	2.6	988.5	998.2	+9.7
Variable cloud. Evening thunderstorms with a southerly change.
9	5.6	17.3	10.9	5.2	29	123	South	1.8	14.0	998.4	1011.8	+13.4
Morning cloud clearing to a sunny day with southerly breezes.
10	5.2	23.2	13.9	6.9	44	161	North East	0	0	999.3	1011.9	-12.6
NE wind turning warm NW in the afternoon. A late evening gusty southerly change but remaining dry.
11	5.8	19.8	13.0	5.8	38	138	North East	0	0	1008.9	1014.8	-5.9
Cool NE wind in the morning easing in the afternoon and turning warmer NW with high cloud.
12	6.3	16.0	11.0	7.3	43	172	South	1.0	4.4	1009.3	1029.5	+20.2
Early morning southerly change with some rain. Showers continuing during the morning. Winds freshening and cloud clearing in the afternoon.
13	2.6	16.2	10.6	9.2	42	217	North East	0	0	1024.0	1030.7	-6.7
Sunny with NE winds in the afternoon.
14	12.8	23.4	16.9	9.2	34	216	North East	0	0	1023.9	1009.1	-14.8
Thin high cloud but sunny. NE winds.
15	13.2	18.9	15.1	6.5	37	154	South	0	0	1009.9	1020.4	+10.5
Early morning southerly change but no rain recorded. Cloudy with southerly breezes turning northerly later in the afternoon.
16	10.0	18.4	13.7	3.8	24	90	North East	0	0	1016.8	1019.2	-2.4
Cloud increasing during the day, light breezes.
17	10.6	17.0	13.1	4.3	27	101	South	0	0	1016.3	1021.4	+5.1
Low cloud increasing mid morning with some drizzle. Cloud lifting and breaking a little in the afternoon. Light southerly winds.
18	12.3	19.4	15.1	10.9	43	257	North East	0	0	1011.2	1021.2	-10.0
Mostly cloudy with a fresh NE wind in the morning. The wind easing in the afternoon and cloud breaking late afternoon.
19	11.2	21.6	14.9	5.0	24	124	South	0	0	1014.0	1025.2	+11.2
Cloud increasing from mid morning and becoming overcast in the afternoon. Light southerly winds.
20	12.6	19.6	15.1	10.2	38	240	North East	0	0	1009.8	1024.1	-14.3
Morning low cloud clearing by early afternoon. Some high cloud later. NE winds.
21	10.8	15.4	12.9	10.7	42	252	South	12.4	0.4	1009.2	1021.5	+12.3
Low cloud and morning drizzle turning to light rain in the afternoon. Southerly winds.
22	9.4	19.1	12.9	6.6	29	153	South	1.6	0.4	1020.2	1023.6	+3.4
Early morning showers clearing along with the cloud. Light southerly winds turning NE in the afternoon. Sunny afternoon but cloud moving in from the NE in the evening.
23	10.0	16.5	13.0	5.5	34	129	North East	0	0	1015.7	1023.6	-7.9
Cool NE wind. Cloud breaking during the morning.
24	9.3	16.7	12.5	7.0	27	164	South	0	0	1018.6	1032.0	+13.4
Cloudy with a few spots of rain at times. Cool southerly winds, mostly light. High barometer recorded as a large high moves on to the country but barometer values above 1030 still have to be calibrated.
25	5.5	16.2	10.1	1.6	18	37	North East	0	0	1032.3	1035.9	+3.6
Cloud breaking to a mostly sunny day. Light southerly breezes turning NE in the afternoon. High barometer recorded as a large high moves on to the country but barometer values above 1030 still have to be calibrated.
26	2.4	14.2	9.3	6.6	37	155	North East	1.4	2.6	1035.0	1019.6	-15.4
Cool morning. Cloudy with NE winds. Some late afternoon drizzle with showers later at night. Barometer re-calibrated for pressures above 1025hPa.
27	10.3	15.9	12.6	8.7	31	202	South	0.8	3.2	1008.0	1019.4	-11.4
Cloudy with drizzle and light rain in the morning. Southerly winds.
28	11.1	13.3	11.9	11.7	44	276	South	0.2	0.6	1009.1	1020.1	+11.0
Cloudy with drizzle at times. Southerly winds.
29	9.8	13.9	11.4	5.7	20	133	South	0.2	0.2	1020.2	1026.5	+6.3
Cloudy with light southerly winds.
30	8.9	14.6	11.4	6.4	34	150	North East	0	0	1018.9	1026.3	-7.4
Cloud clearing in the afternoon with NE winds.
31	10.1	14.8	12.4	5.7	30	135	North East	0	0	1011.5	1019.2	-7.7
Cloudy and cool with a NE wind.