March was a dry month with a total of 19.5mm which is just over half the average. The vast majority of this rain (16.6mm) fell in the last week so for the first 3/4 of the month we had drought conditions. The temperature was close to average at 6.8° but it felt much colder in the relentless winds. The maximum temperature was 15.1° on the 28th and the minimum 1.1° on the 23rd.
Grass growth has been minimal in the first three months of the year, We're about 5 weeks behind 2014 in growth potential but 3 weeks ahead of 2013. (2014 was our warmest spring on record with 8.4° and 2013 our coldest with 2.9°.) The monthly average temperature figure can mask big variations in grass growth potential. When the daily average temperature remains below about 6° there is minimal grass growth but we can get the same monthly average with the daily temperatures hovering around 6° as we can during a month when temperatures fluctuate between cold and warm spells. In the latter example we can get significant growth during the mild spells but in the first there is none. On the 26th of March this year we had reached 43.6 points on our degree day model (A measure of grass growth potential), in 2014 we had reached this level by the 14th of February and on the 26th March 2014 we had reached 135.7 points.
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