MAIN WEATHER AND CLIMATE TRAITS IN THE NORTHEN HEMISPHERE AS OF MARCH 2024

Air temperature

Bitter cold which had been freezing most of Russia at the end of February quickly began to retreat with the onset of calendar spring. The air temperatures in the north-west of the ETR, in Central Russia and in the north of Siberia reached new maxima as early as in the first days of March, and the temperature anomalies averaged for the first decade amounted to +2-6° or more in these areas. Cold weather survived only in the Black Earth and Volga regions as well as in the south of the Far East, but intrusions of cold into abnormally warm regions did also take place: on the night from March 5 to March 6, such an intrusion targeted Central Russia where the thermometer readings dropped to -20°.

In the second decade, heat continued to set in, extending the area of its anomalous highs in the north-west and in Central Russia, and creating a new heat centre in the south of Siberia and in Trans-Baikal. New daily temperature maxima were recorded again in the north-west of the ETR, in the central region and in Cis-Urals, yet cold bursts down to -20° or to -25° in the Kama River area occurred stillIn the third decade, the weather remained cold along the Arctic coast, in the north of the Urals and in Yakutia only, with negative decade-averaged temperature anomalies of -2…-6° or larger, whereas the weather in the rest of the territory was abnormally warm, with anomalies up to +2-4° or more in the ETR, in the south of the Urals and of Western Siberia, and up to +2-10° in the Far East.

As a result, this March in Russia turned out to be abnormally warm, exhibiting above-normal average air temperatures in most parts of the country: by 2-4° above in the ETR, by 2° in the south of Western Siberia, and by 2-4° or more degrees above in Yakutia and in the north of the Far East. The only areas where the weather was colder than usual were the Nenets, Khanty-Mansi, Taimyr and Evenki Autonomous Districts, and most of the KrasnoyarskTerritory.This Match, the temperature averages over the entire territories of China, Mongolia and Korean Peninsula as well as over most part ofJapan were above-normal, two or more degrees above in the central part of China. The monthly-averaged air temperature in China hit the top ten high-ranked values in the history of meteorological observations. At the beginning of the month, new daily temperature maxima were recorded in this country at times.The air temperatures in the countries of South-East Asia were close to normal. At times, new daily temperature maxima were also set there, as well as in Myanmar, Thailand and Laos. The thermometers in some places would display values close to +40°.

The air temperatures in South Asia were also close to normal; remarkably, against the background of positive anomalies in India, but against the background of negative ones in Pakistan. In India, new temperature maxima would be set in places, but in the middle of the third decade, the air temperature dropped to +19° in the eastern state of Odisha, which was cold by local standards.

Similarly, normal air temperatures were observed in most of the Near and Middle East as well as in Central Asia. At the end of the third decade, colds broke through to Afghanistan, and a new daily temperature minimum was set in Kabul, the capital of the country.

In North Africa, the monthly-averaged temperature in March was deemed the highest in the history of the region: its value was 2-4 or more degrees higher than normal in a significant part of the territory. The air temperature in the resorts of Egypt remained as high as +30° or above all over the month, the water temperature reaching +24-25° sometimes.

In Europe, the monthly-averaged temperature in March reproduced its record-breaking value set in 2014, and was above-normal all over the continent. This was most noticeable in Central and Eastern Europe where the anomalies reached +2° or more. This March was the warmest ever observed in Germany and Austria; in Germany, it happened for the second successive month, while in Austria, high temperatures persisting there for almost the entire month caused stone-fruit trees to bloom earlier than ever in history. At the end of the month, new temperature maxima, higher than +25° in places, were repeatedly established in Eastern Europe, viz., in the Baltic countries, in Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova.

In Canada, the weather in the east was very warm, the monthly-averaged anomalies of air temperature amounting to +2-6° or higher, while the temperatures in the rest of the country were close to normal. The air temperature monthly-averaged over the entire territory of Canada was among the top ten high-ranked values in history. The distribution of anomalies in the USA was similar, but the positive anomalies in the east were somewhat weaker than in Canada (and did not exceed +2-3°), whereas the temperatures in the west were also about normal. The north-eastern states were among the top ten warmest in the history of observations. In some places, most notably along the Pacific coast, small negative anomalies were measured. Air temperatures in Mexico and in the countries of Central America were higher than normal, by 2 or more degrees in some locations. In the Caribbean, this March was the warmest on record.

As regards the entire Northern Hemisphere, its average air temperature in March was the second high-ranked one, the year 2016 remaining the leader.

In Moscow, the average temperature in March was +1.6°, implying an anomaly of +2.3°. This is the tenth result in the ranking list compiled since 1891.

 Sea Surface Temperature

El Niño continued to weaken. In the Northern Hemisphere, positive SST anomalies in the equatorial zone were small, but this did not yet have any effect on the average SST of the Pacific Ocean in the Southern Hemisphere. The latter reached its maximum again, albeit that the result coincided with those of March 2004 and 2022 (to an accuracy of 0.1° C). High positive SST anomalies were located at the subtropical and temperate latitudes of the Ocean, and negative ones, in the Sea of Okhotsk and along the coast of North America.

As for the Atlantic Ocean, the absolute maximum of its SST in the Northern Hemisphere was recorded for the fifteenth month in succession. Similar to the Pacific Ocean, high positive anomalies were formed at the subtropical and temperate latitudes, in the Barents, North and Baltic seas of Northern Europe, as well as in the south of the Baltic Sea and the east of the Mediterranean Sea. Negative anomalies were detected along the coast of Canada, near Iceland and to the east of Greenland.

Precipitation

This March, ETR fell short of precipitation: its normal amounts were only achieved in the Russian North, in certain locations of the Middle and Lower Volga regions, and in Dagestan. The monthly precipitation totals in the rest of the territory often did not reach half the normal value. On some days, however, precipitation could be record-breaking, as was the case in the Republic of Komi in the first decade, in the said republic and in Karelia the second decade, and in the Volga region in the third decade. Precipitation was normal almost everywhere in the Urals, and in Siberia alike: there, with the exception of the Omsk and Irkutsk Regions, the Altai Territory, and the republics of Tyva and Khakassia. In the Far East, precipitation was scarce in Chukotka, Kamchatka, Sakhalin, Buryatia and the Primorye Territory, and normal or above-normal elsewhere.

Most regions of China received small amounts of atmospheric moisture: normal amounts were only reached in the centre of the country and along the coasts. In the Korean Peninsula and in Japan, precipitation was normal.

The picture was similar in the countries of South-East Asia where precipitation was deficient, and was distributed exclusively between the northern regions of Vietnam, Laos and Thailand.

In South Asia, rain fell in the north and north-east of India as well as in the south of Pakistan; the weather in the rest of the territory was dry.

In Central Asia, precipitation was abundant in some locations. In the middle of the month, heavy rains, and snowfalls in the mountains, hit Afghanistan. Scores of people were listed dead after this natural disaster. At the end of the month, pouring rains led to floods in the north and west of Kazakhstan.

Some countries in the Near and Middle East received a lot of rain in March: the monthly precipitation totals in Iran, in the countries of South Caucasus, in UAE and in Turkey were normal or increased. In the first decade, 110% of the normal monthly rainwater amount fell in one night in Dubai, and the streets were exposed to rolling muddy streams of water, because there was no storm water sewage in the city. At the same time, almost no precipitation was observed in the Levant countries and in Saudi Arabia.

The weather was dry in most of North Africa where rain fell solely in parts of Morocco and in certain countries of the Gulf of Guinea.

In Europe, rains were distributed following the rule "somewhere plenty, somewhere empty", where "plenty" could refer to France, the UK, Spain (not including Catalonia) and a number of Balkan countries, and "empty", to most of Central Europe, Scandinavia in part and the Baltic countries. Showers led to floods in Bulgaria where up to 60 mm of precipitation per day could fall in some places. The drought continued in Catalonia where 2023 is known to become the second driest in the history of observations.

Almost no precipitation was observed in most of Canada: there, normal precipitation amounts were measured only on the Labrador Peninsula and along the Atlantic coast. The precipitation map in the US was complex: the figures were normal or higher than that in the western states, in the Great Lakes region, in the south and along the Atlantic coast, especially in the north-eastern states, but between these territories, the weather was dry. In Mexico, the weather was mostly dry, whereas in Cuba, pelting showers caused floods and landslides.

In Moscow, the monthly precipitation total amounted to 9.0 mm, or 23% of the normal value. This March was the driest in the capital since 1995. The all-time driest March in Moscow was in 1928, when 5 mm of precipitation fell.