March 2019 Commentary

March certainly came in like a lion and went out like a lamb. The month was very evenly divided between a very wet and windy first half followed by a very dry and much calmer second half.

Temperatures were near to average during the first two weeks and then we experienced some almost warm day-time conditions, often accompanied by chilly or cold nights.

The average temperature for the whole month was 9.0 C which was over one degree above the last decade's average while the rainfall total of 118.2mm was above average for March but as mentioned previously over 90 percent of this total fell in the first two weeks.

Footpaths around the edge of Cerne Abbas have turned from muddy morasses into hard, ankle-breaking walkways though numerous spring flowers have been putting on a beautiful show.

Philip Spray