An historical perspective of the climate statistics

for Coventry during March 2011



Temperature

Overall, March 2011 has been 0.4C warmer than average in Coventry,
though by day, mean temperatures (11.4C) were 1.1C above the city’s 30-
year climatological normal (1981-2010).

With a mean monthly temperature of 7.2C, it has been the mildest March
in Coventry since 2007 (7.8C).

Even so, it was not especially warm at night, with the mean monthly
minimum temperature (2.9C) 0.3C below average for the city in March.

As a consequence of night time cooling, we recorded 19 grass frosts at
Bablake, the highest ground frost incidence in Coventry since March
1995 (24).

The warmest day of the month (25th) recorded a maximum temperature of
17.6C, making this the warmest day in Coventry since 2005 (19.3C).

As a contrast, the maximum temperature only reached 3.9C on the 3rd
March this year, making this the coldest March day in the city since
2006 (3.1C).

Rainfall

With just 7.4mm of rain, this has been the driest March in Coventry
since 1961 (7.1mm).

The March rainfall total is just 16% of that expected, and is the
tenth month in the past year to record a rainfall deficit locally. In
this time, Coventry’s rainfall total has been 17% below normal.

With monthly rainfall records dating back to 1870 in Coventry, we find
that only five March months have recorded less rainfall than March
2011 (1913, 1929, 1938, 1944 and 1961).
It has also been the driest month at any time of year in Coventry
since April 2001 (5.1mm). Looking further back, it is interesting to
note that only 28 months have ever been drier than March 2011 at any
time of year since 1870, 10 in spring, 7 in summer, 5 in autumn and 6
in winter.

There was no rain in Coventry for 16 days between the 14th and the
29th March inclusive; this was the longest March dry spell in the city
since 2003 (19 days).

Sunshine

Although the monthly sunshine total (149.6 hours) was 31% higher than
Coventry’s 30-year average, this was still our dullest March since
2008 (139.0 hours).

The sunniest day of the month (24th) recorded 11.0 hours of sunshine,
making this the sunniest March day since 2003 (11.1 hours).

Only three March months have included days with more than 11 hours of
sunshine in Coventry since 1894 (1997, 2002 and 2003).

Steve Jackson
Bablake Weather Station
Coventry CV1 4AU
www.bablakeweather.co.uk