A Final Thought on March

Friday continued the trend of plenty of sunshine but a cold north to north easterly breeze making it feel cold.

As a final thought on a cold March lets assume that once the temperature gets above 10°C plants have a fighting chance of growing and that once the temperature falls below 3°C they find the going a little bit tough. 

Firstly comparing hours above 10°C for 2012 & 2013:

• In 2012 recorded hours above 10°C was 239
• In 2013 recorded hours above 10°C was    0

Secondly comparing hours below 3°C for 2012 & 2013

• In 2012 recorded hours below 3°C was 37
• In 2013 recorded hours below 3°C was 426

These figures probably go a long way to explaining why our plants are slow into growth this year. As we approach the end of the first week in April our warmest day of the year is still 29 January when the temperature reached 13.7°C. Since then double digit temperatures haven’t existed. Roll on spring.

Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett