The first spring month brings very changeable weather, cold and wet days alternate with warm and sunny ones. For the past 140 years, March has also brought bitter frosts and summer temperatures, but also snow, as in early January.

Brief information

• The March cold record is the only monthly absolute minimum temperature record to be broken this century: -33 C in Obârsia Lotrului in 2005. At the same time, it was -31.7ºC in Bâlea Lac, the lowest temperature ever measured at the weather station in the Făgăraş Mountains.

• In 1952, the highest March temperatures were recorded: they were almost +33 C in Odobest and over 30 C in some other cities. The temperature recorded in Odobest 71 years ago is one of the amazing records measured in the country, the temperature is 18-19 degrees above the norm for that period.

• The last extremely cold March was in 2018, when it was below -20 degrees at several weather stations. Also this month, heavy snow fell in Bucharest on the 23rd.

• The wettest March was in 1962, and the driest in 2012.

• In the last decade, there were very warm Marches in several years: 2014, 2017 and 2019.

• The last day of March 1975 brought a temperature of +29 degrees.

Chronology of extreme March weather

1883 year

It was -19 degrees at the Filaret weather station in Bucharest. This is a record that holds for the third month of the year.

1901 year

It was -17 degrees in Buzau.

1926 year

It was +27 degrees in Iasi.

1927 year

It was +27.9 degrees in Cluj.

1929 year

In Constanta it was -12.8, in Turnu-Magurele -22.2, in Craiova -21. Even in Sulin, a city with an extremely mild climate, it was -14.5 degrees.

1932 year

It was -24.5 C in Sibiu, -27.3 C in Tg Mureș and -20 C in Bacau.

1933 year

It was -20 degrees in Timisoara.

1940 year

It was -20.6 C in Satu Mare, and -12.8 C in Constanta.

1944 year

The month of March with a lot of snow on Omu Peak, 307 mm of precipitation, which is six times the normal for this period.

1947 year

It was +29 degrees in Bucharest and Craiova, +26.7 degrees in Brasov.

1951 year

In Turnu-Magurele it was +29.6 degrees.

1952 year

The highest temperature in the country was recorded in the third month of the year, with a record of +32.8 C in Odobest. In fact, the end of March 1952 was very hot, on the same day, 30 March, with absolute highs over 25.0ºC (31.2ºC in Medgidia; 30.6ºC in Sibiu; 30.5ºC in Hryvka; 30.4ºC in Constanta; 30, 1ºC in Chernavod; 29.9ºC in Fokshan and Boit). It was +28.2°C in Timisoara, and +21.6°C in Predial.

Even more interesting is that in the same March, but earlier, on the 9th, Intorsura Buzăului had -31.4 C. This was a national record for March for 54 years. It was -22.7 C in Iasi.

1963 year

It was -15.7 degrees in Calafat. It was -23.9 degrees Celsius in Predyal.

1974 year

At the top of Omu, it was +12.2°C, a record still valid today.

1975 year

It was very hot on the last day of the month: +27 C in Iasi, Cluj and Tg Mureș, +29 C in Bacău and Calaras.

1987 year

It was the coldest March in 60 years. Examples: -30 C in Pojana Stampei, -29.7 C in Om, – 29 C in Chehlau Toaka, – 21.7 C in Semenik, -24.7 C in Tirgu-Zhiu and Galaka.

1988 year

Stana de Vale received 375 mm of rain, a national record for the third month of the year.

1990 year

It was the warmest March in 60 years, with a national average temperature of 7.4°C, almost 4°C above normal.

1994 year

The temperature was over 27 degrees. For example, it was +28.6 degrees in Tulcha.

2001 year

At Intorsura Buzăului it was +24.1°C, and at many weather stations it was over 25 degrees.

2005 year

Absolute minimum for March: -33 °C, in Obârsia Lotrului, 11. They were -31.7 °C in Bâlea Lac, -27.6 °C in Stâna de Vale, -26.6 °C in Sf.Gheorghe ( Covasna) and -24.7 °C in Sibiu.

2007 year

In Predial, the amount of precipitation that fell on the 23rd was 96.9 mm, which is a national record for 24 hours in the third month of the year.

2018 year

March 1 was very cold. The coldest was in Tirgu-Loghrest, a commune located in Gorzh County, on the border with Vilcha County: -24 degrees. It was also very cold in Obarsia Lotruluy (-23 degrees). In Stolnici it was -22 degrees, in Slatina it was -21 degrees, and also in Băneasa weather station.

Oltenita, Mercuria Chuc, Rosiorij de Vede and Curtia de Arges were other places where overnight lows reached -21 degrees.

On March 23, heavy snow fell in the south: yes, in Bucharest, the snow layer reached 23 cm.

2017 and 2019

March was unusually warm, with a national average of +7.2C, just 0.2C off the warmest month: March 1990.

2021 year

Several monthly rainfall records were broken, the oldest of which dates back to 1966 at the Cheahlau-Toaka weather station (105.6 mm).

2022 year

The weather was colder than usual, with monthly average temperatures of -11.8°C in Ome and +5.5°C in Drobeta-Turnu-Severin.

The largest negative temperature deviations were registered in the Southern Carpathians and exceeded 3.0 °C, they were recorded at the stations Vf.Omu (3.7 °C), Obârsia Lotrului (3.4 °C) and Bâlea Lac (3.1 °C ).

2023 year

March began with colder than usual weather in many parts of the country. The coldest was in Redeuka with a minimum of -9 C on both the 2nd and the 3rd.

source

ANM – Characteristics of the climate for September, October and November

Statistical Yearbook of Romania, Geography, Meteorology and Environment Section.

National Meteorological Administration – Climate of Romania, Romanian Academy Publishing House, Bucharest, 2008

TuTiempo and Infoclimat platforms