It was the driest March since measurements began in 1906, according to our automatic weather stations. On average, about 6 millimeters of precipitation fell across the country compared to 53 millimeters normally. March was also very sunny and relatively mild.
The nights were colder than usual for this time of year
March was relatively mild with an average temperature of 7.1 °C compared to a long-term average of 6.5 °C. However, the difference between maximum and minimum temperatures was very large, especially the maximum temperatures were exceptionally high. The nights were actually colder than usual for this time of year. Sometimes below freezing, with March 16 being the coldest temperature this month: -6.7°C in Eelde. The warmest day was on March 21, with 22.8°C in Beek, the highest temperature this month. In De Bilt, it was also the first warm day (maximum temperature of 20.0°C or higher) of the year at 21.9°C.
Hardly any rain
The month was very dry with an average of about 6 millimeters of precipitation across the country compared to a normal of 53 millimeters. Thus, it was at the automatic weather stations the driest March since measurements began in 1906. The previous record was in 1993 with an average of 9 millimeters. In Arcen, the least precipitation fell of all automatic weather stations, only 1.3 millimeters. The most was recorded at KNMI station Leeuwarden, especially due to a shower on March 23.
Second sunniest March
With an average of about 245 hours of sunshine across the country, it was very sunny
With an average of about 245 hours of sunshine across the country compared to a long-term average of 146 hours, the month was very sunny. It thus comes close to the sunniest March so far, 2022. Back then, the sun also shone for 245 hours. So it remains to be seen how many hours of sunshine we will see today, whether the record will be broken.
Hellmann number: extraordinarily mild
At the end of March, the cold number for De Bilt is determined. This number is a measure of the cold in the period from November to March. The Hellmann number was 6.7, classifying this period as extraordinarily mild. This year ranks 118th in the list of coldest winter periods of the past 125 years.