Waterloo Region saw the rainiest March in 15 years

With March now in the rear-view mirror, residents across Waterloo Region are reflecting on what’s been a wet start to spring.

According to local experts, though, it was actually the wettest, rainiest month of March in 15 years.

The details come from the E.D. Soulis Memorial Weather Station at the University of Waterloo, which said the combination of heavy rainfall and days of above seasonal temperatures made it the “first warmer than average month since last October.”

“There were three really wet days during March, including over 35 mm on the 31st,” the weather station said.

“The total for the month was 128.2 mm, almost double the average of 65.8. This was the wettest March since 2011 and the sixth wettest in the history of records in the region that go back to 1914.”

While much of the attention towards the end of the month was focused on rainfall, of course, snowfall was also top of mind closer to the beginning of the month.

While it had its impacts for drivers at the tail end of winter, the weather station confirmed that the total amount of snowfall for March was barely pushing into double digits.

“After a strong start to the snowfall season, there were only 13.5.0 cm, about half the average of 26.5 cm,” the station said.

“This makes the total for the snowfall season at 239.5 cm, clearly well above the average of a typical season of 159.7 cm. For now, this is the third-highest total for a single snowfall season in the region, but of course, there can still be snow in April.”

Fluctuating temperatures were also a prevalent part of the month, with the weather station showing that the region reached a high of 20.4 C, first hitting that temperature on Mar. 30.

Meanwhile, temperatures dipped by nearly the same degree, hitting as low as -19.3 C.