First part of Dutch spring turns out to be gloomy, cold and wet

Meteorological spring in the Netherlands is half over. The first part of spring was gloomy, wet, and cold, Weeronline reported. For example, March was very wet, and the number of sunny hours was below the norm. In addition, it was half a degree too cold.

With an average temperature of 7.3 degrees compared to 7.8 degrees normal, the first half of spring, from March 1 to April 15, was colder than normal. In De Bilt, the average temperature in March was 7.3 degrees compared to 6.5 degrees normal. April so far had an average temperature of 8.0 degrees compared to 9.0 degrees normal.

De Bilt counted nine freezing days with a minimum temperature below freezing. That number is quite common. Furthermore, the lowest temperature was recorded at -7.6 degrees on March 1 in Twente. The highest temperature in the first half of spring was recorded at 18.7 degrees on March 17 at Ell in Limburg.

Overall, March was a very wet month nationwide, with an average of 98 millimeters of precipitation. It was the sixth wettest month of March since 1906. April has also been very wet with an average of 45 millimeters of precipitation so far. Normally, 41 millimeters fell in the entire month of April. From March 1 to April 15, a total of 144 millimeters fell compared to 68 millimeters normally. The wettest location was Schinveld in Limburg with 146 millimeters. In addition, the first half of April saw the most precipitation in Gelderland. In Deelen, the counter was already at 74 millimeters.

With only 117 hours of sunshine, March fell short of normal values. Normally, the sun shines for about 146 hours in the first month of spring. April does much better in that respect, without being immediately sunny. The first half of April is usually good for 86 hours of sunshine, but this year the sun shone on average about 10 hours more. Overall, the sun shone for 214 hours in the first half of spring, compared to 232 normally.

Furthermore, March also saw regular snowfall. In Noord-Brabant and Limburg, code orange for snowfall applied on March 8. On the evening of March 8 and the night of March 9, it snowed mainly in the center of the country. As a result, the wintry precipitation led to considerable traffic obstructions.

The first official storm of 2023 was recorded on March 13. At the measuring points Vlieland, IJmuiden, and Houtribdijk, it reached gale force 9 for one hour between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.