March in Seattle

Narcissus on Beacon Hill in March 2013

 Madison Park in March 2013

Prunus serrulata (flowering cherry) in Mt Baker in March 2013

Rainier Valley in March 2013

March 2013 was warmer & drier than normal.  The mean temperature was 47.9F/8.8C.  The normal mean temperature is 46.5F/8C.  The lowest temperature was 32F/0C, the highest 69F/20.6C.  Total precipitation was 2.74 inches.  Normal precipitation is 3.72 inches.  There were 5 days with rain, 19 days with light rain, 1 day with sleet, 16 days with fog (3 of them at a visibility of less than 1/4 mile), 2 days with haze, 17 cloudy days, 11 partly cloudy days & 3 fair days. 

March felt chilly & the skies were mostly dark with clouds. Light rain fell from time to time.  Arctostaphylos columbiana (hairy manzanita) Clematis armandii (evergreen clematis) major Narcissus (daffodil) Prunus serrulata (flowering cherry) Pulmonaria (lungwort) & Ribes sanguineum (flowering currant) began to bloom.  Around the middle of the month, leaves began to appear on Pyrus calleryana (Callery pear), Salix babylonica (weeping willow) & Syringa vulgaris (common lilac).  Buds swelled on many other shrubs & trees.  The last day of winter came on March 19.  The winter chill had diminished a week before. The last 3 days of the month were much warmer & sunny. Temperatures reached 65F/18.3C on 3/29, 68F/20C on 3/30 & 69F/20.6C on 3/31.