The average temperature in March in Germany was 7.5 degrees – a temperature record, just like in February. According to the German Weather Service, the warmest day was March 30th, when almost summer-like temperatures were measured in Saxony.
After the warmest February since measurements began in 1881, March this year also brought a temperature record in Germany. The average temperature was 7.5 degrees, four degrees above the value of the internationally valid reference period from 1961 to 1990, as the German Weather Service (DWD) announced after an initial evaluation.
Compared to the current and warmer comparison period from 1991 to 2020, the increase was 2.9 degrees. This also significantly exceeded the previous record from 2017 (7.2 degrees). According to the DWD, the last time there were two consecutive monthly records was in 2018, in April and May.
Highest value at 24.9 degrees
The DWD recorded the national low on March 19th in Hoyerswerda, Saxony, at minus 7.3 degrees. “The neighboring Lower Lusatia, on the other hand, experienced almost summer temperatures on the 30th,” it said. Cottbus and Klitzschen near Torgau in northern Saxony reported the nationwide high of 24.9 degrees.
Overall, according to the weather service, there was significantly too little rain in March. The DWD registered around 46 liters per square meter, which is only around 80 percent of the reference periods from 1961 to 1990 and from 1991 to 2020 (57 liters each).
Dry and very sunny
It was particularly dry in the lee – i.e. the windward side – of the eastern low mountain ranges and in Western Pomerania. In some places the DWD measured less than ten liters per square meter. The highest daily amount came on March 12th at the Baiersbronn-Ruhestein station in the Black Forest with 57.8 liters.
With a sunshine duration of 120 hours, March was sunnier than in the comparable period from 1961 to 1990 with 111 hours. However, compared to the period 1991 to 2020 (127 hours), the DWD registered a slight decrease. The federal capital Berlin was the sunniest with 158 hours of sunshine.