I've assembled as many interesting weather facts as I can to make this world weather trivia page. Obviously I didn't know all these facts off the top of my head. Some I discovered myself, but the I had to hunt around for the vast majority. The internet was, needless to say, a particulary handy source, especially regarding American weather. Another good source proved to be old weather periodicals, such as The Meteorological Magazine  which seemed much more intent on facts and figures than research. If you scroll to the bottom of this page you'll find a list of sources. Incidentally, if any of these facts turn out to be wrong, or records quoted get broken please  and let me know. Thanks.

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March 2
2001 The first snow in more than 15 years hit the French Riveria. Up to about 50cms snow fell in the mountains of the Ardeche region, whilst the storm responsible for the snow caused power outages in more than 100,000 homes. 29

March 3
1953 Snow falls at Oahu, Hawaii. 7

March 4
1971 Snowstorm of the century in Montreal; around 50cm snow fell and winds reached 110km/h.

March 5
1899 On the 4-5 March Cyclone Mahina crossed the Great Barrier Reef, killing 400 people. 7
1960 Eastern Massachusetts' greatest March snowstorm ends having begun on the 3rd. Among the highlights are new 24 hour record snowfalls at Blue Hill Oberservatory (69cm), Worcester (45cm) and Boston (42cm). Winds gusted to 70 mph (112 km/h) during the storm. 7
1990 Perth, Western Australia records its hottest March day on record as temperatures reach 42.3C. Records here date back to 1897. 24

March 6
1954 Florida's deepest snowfall on record; snow falls to depths of about 10cm in Milton. Snow is likely about once a year in Florida but will only fall to a measurable depth about once every five years.
1967 The UK's strongest gust on record; winds gust to 144mph on Cairngorm in Scotland. 14
1971 Italy's coldest night on record; lows drop to -34.6C at Palteau Rosa (3488m high). 26

March 7
1971 Lows in Wageningen drop to -18.7C, the coldest March night and spring night in the Netherlands.

March 8
1972 Winds gusted to 333km/h at Thule, Greenland. 7
1999 La Coruna in northwestern Spain's wettest day on record with 132.7mm rain falling. 10

March 9
1911 Puerto Rico's coldest night on record. Lows drop to 4.4C in Aibonito. 7

March 10
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March 11
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March 12
1995 Bahrain records it's wettest day on record. 67.9mm rain fall and winds gust up to 44 knots at times. On average 70.8mm rain falls in the whole year here! 139.5mm rain fell in the whole of March 1995, making it Bahrain's wettest month since 1902.

March 13
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March 14
2002 227mm rain falls in 24 hours at Ouanaham, Lifou in the French Loyalty Islands as Tropical Depression 19P passes. The average March rainfall here is 165mm!
2003 A severe thunderstorm hit Canberra, Australia during the evening dumping 37.8mm rain in just one hour. The average March rainfall here is 52.6mm. March 2003 in Canberra was notable for the high frequency of thunderstorms here - thunder was heard on 9 days at the airport, the most March thunder days on record here. 24

March 15
1952 The world's greatest 24 hour rainfall total - 1,869.9mm - is recorded at Cilaos, La Reunion Island.
2002 A huge thunderstorm over the River Plate Estuary on the Argentina/Uruguay produced some very wet weather. In Montevideo 106mm rain fell in less than 24 hours (possibly less than 12!) - the average March rainfall here is 106mm! Over thr border Buenos Aires had 57mm against a monthly average of 134mm whilst La Plata recorded 95mm rain against a March average of 109mm. Other wet spots included Junin with 92mm, Las Flores with 36mm and Bolivar with 32mm. Another thunderstorm then dumped 172mm rain on Florida, Uruguay between 12utc Saturday and 12utc Sunday. The average March rainfall here is 110mm.

March 16
1942 65 people died at Baldwin, Mississippi when two tornadoes, 24 minutes apart, struck. 19

March 17
2002 67.8cms (26.7") snow fell in 24 hours in Anchorage, Alaska (this total was measured at the official site; locally as much as 78.7cms snow fell). This was the heaviest snow here in 47 years and a new 24 hour snowfall record, thoroughly thrashing the old record of about 40cms (15.6") set on 20 December 1955. The heaviest snow fell between 2200 on the 16th and 1500 on the 17th. Anchorage is surrounded by high mountains which usually bear the brunt of snow in this area. However, this time the mountains didn't help and parts of the west side of the town were buried by snowdrifts around 1 metre or more deep. 2,8

March 18
1925 The Great Tri-State Tornado. One of the USA's worst tornados on record killed 695 people along it's 219mile path through Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. This is the USA's largest death toll from a single tornado. 234 deaths occurred at Murphysboro, Illinois, the largest death toll in a single city from a tornado on record. The tornado mved at speeds up to 73mph and winds in the tornado are estimated to have exceded 260mph.
1978 On the 17/18 March 28 are killed and 300 injured as a tornado touches down for 5km in the northern suburbs of New Delhi near the university. 3

March 19
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March 20
1986 The UK's highest gust at a high level site is recorded when gusts reach 173mph at a height of 1245m on Cairngorm in the Scottish Highlands. 2

March 21
1948 Juneau, Alaska's record 24 hour snowfall; 32cms of white stuff falls. 7

March 22
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March 23
1913 A late afternoon tornado on what is Eastern Sunday hits Omaha, Nebraska killing 103 people. The tornado takes just 12 minutes to leave a 5 mile long trail of destruction up to two blocks wide. This tornado is the 12th deadliest on record in the USA. 7, 22

March 24
1998 160 are killed and 2000 injured when a tornado or tornadoes affected 20 coastal villages in the states of West Bengal and Orissa in India. More than 15,000 homes were destroyed and more than 10,000 people were left homeless.
2002 The worst sand/duststorm in 40 years affected Korea. 10 days earlier this storm affected China, and also hit Vladivostock en route for Korea. This storm was expected to hit the USA within 2 weeks where it would do little other than turn conditions a bit hazy. The sand/duststorm was caused by gale force winds lifting dust and sand in the desert areas of Mongolia and northern China.
2003 Phuking wet in Phuket, Thailand......185mm rain falls in the 24 hours up to midnight GMT on the 25th in Phuket. The average March rainfall here is just 59.9mm and it's the wettest day since September 24th 2001 when just over 200mm rain fell in 24 hours.

March 25
1914 45cm snow falls at Society Hill, South Carolina, a state record snowfall. 7

March 26
1968 The UK's wettest March day on record; 164.3mm rain falls at Glen Etive, Highland. Ardgour House, Highland was just behind with 163mm rain, whilst 161mm rain fell at Broadford, Skye and 159mm rain at Kinlochewe. 32

March 27
1890 The USA's 24th deadliest tornado on record strikes Louisville, Kentucky killing 76 people. It is one of only two of the USA deadliest 25 tornadoes to occur outside of April, May and June. 22

March 28
1902 Tennessee registers its record maximum 24 hour precipitation as 279.4mm rain falls at McMinnville. 11
2000 At least 2 tornadoes hit western Fort Worth near Dallas, Texas during the early evening causing widespread damage, inuring 48 and killing 4 people. 29
2001 A tornado estimated at F2 on the Fujita Scale hit Greymouth, New Zealand downing power lines, flattening several hundred trees and ripping roofs off more than a dozen homes. 29

March 29
1929 The UK records its joint hottest March day on record when highs reach 25.0C at Wakefield
1965 The UK records its joint hottest March day on record when highs reach 25.0C at Wakefield.
1968 The UK records its joint hottest March day on record when highs reach 25.0C at Cromer and Santon Downham. Meanwhile, on the same day the Netherlands records its hottest March day on record when highs reach 25.8C in Gemert and Venlo.

March 30
2001 4 people were killed when a tornado touched down at Chak Miran, Pakistan. 29
2003 39.0mm rain fell in Perth, Western Australia. This was the wettest March day here for 32 years and the fifth wettest March day on record. The average March rainfall here is 19mm. 24

March 31
1890 The worst snowstorm on record in St. Louis, Missouri; 51cms snow falls in 24 hours. 20
1921 115mm rain falls in 24 hours at Gibraltar. 7
1933 37 are killed and 170 injured as an F4 tornado hit Jones, Jasper and Clarke counties in Mississippi. 20
1954 The USA records its joint hottest March day on record as highs in Rio Grande City, Texas reach 42.2C. 20
1962 Florida records one of its worst tornado disasters on record when 17 are killed and 100 injured as an F3 tornado hit Milton in northwestern Florida. 20
1984 The USA records its joint hottest March day on record as highs in Rio Grande City, Texas reach 42.2C. 20
2002 Flooding in northern Tenerife kills 8 people. in Santa Cruz in the north of the island an incredible 224mm rain fell in just 3 hours.
2003 St John, NB recorded 105mm rain in the 30 hours up to the early morning of the 31st. The average March rainfall here is 112mm.
2003 62mm rain fell in Havana, Cuba in 12 hours. The average March rainfall here is 45.7mm.

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Dan Suri, last updated 28 July 2003