Weather in Palermo in March

A good month. March is a solid month to be in Palermo. Highs average 17 °C, lows 10.3 °C, and rain falls on 10 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

March ranks 8 of 12 in Palermo: past the worst of the year but short of May, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 10 days, 3 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Pack for 17 °C days and 10.3 °C nights; the spread matters more here than any single number.

What the averages hide

The averages here are honest — no hidden extremes worth planning around. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest March day reached 26.3 °C and the coldest night fell to 4.8 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 40 mm — roughly 54% of the month's rain in one day.

March is moderately variable: 9 mm in the driest year against 186 mm in the wettest, around an average of 74 mm. Roughly two Marchs in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 13 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 79%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How March sits in the year

The month is on the way up: 2.4 °C warmer than February, and April adds another 3.1 °C. Late in the month feels noticeably different from the start of it, which is worth knowing if the trip is short.

Daylight in March

11.9 hours of daylight, gaining 1.2 hours across the month. That is between Palermo's extremes of 14.8 and 9.5 hours, so days are long enough not to constrain the plan.

Sea temperature

The sea sits at about 14.5 °C in March — cold — a quick dip rather than a swim, and a wetsuit if you are in for longer. The sea peaks at 27.2 °C in August and bottoms out at 14.2 °C — water lags the air by a month or two, which is why the best swimming often comes after the best weather.

How busy it gets

Quiet. Few other visitors, cheaper rooms, and a real chance some seasonal operators are shut.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

March in Palermo versus nearby

If Palermo is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Catania is a better bet in March — 2 °C warmer, 1 day less rain. Taormina is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 1 day more rain.

So: March is a compromise. May is 22 points better and is what Palermo is actually like at its best — worth moving the trip for if that is possible, and worth adjusting expectations for if it is not.

Every month in Palermo

See all twelve months in Palermo, or where else to go in March.