Spain sees wettest March on record

 

Spain had its wettest March on record, with more than three times the usual amount of rainfall, the government's weather office reported.

The country saw an average 157 millimeters of rain last month, the most in records going back to 1947, compared with normal values of 46 millimeters, the Agencia Estatal de Meteorologia wrote in a report on its website today.

Spain's water reserves, used to irrigate the country's crops including corn during the dry summer months, are at 82% of capacity, the Agriculture Ministry reported today, compared to 62% for the same period last year.

"March was extremely rainy in almost all of Spain," AEMET wrote. "The large accumulated quantities are more due to the persistence of the precipitation than the intensity."

Temperatures averaged 10.6 degrees Celsius in March, 0.1 degree below normal values for the month, the weather office wrote.