Weather in Raleigh in March

A good month. March is a solid month to be in Raleigh. Highs average 16.1 °C, lows 3.8 °C, and rain falls on 10 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

March ranks 6 of 12 in Raleigh: past the worst of the year but short of October, 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 16.1 °C days and 3.8 °C nights; the spread matters more here than any single number.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: 9 nights fall below freezing. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest March day reached 29.9 °C and the coldest night fell to -18.1 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 46 mm — roughly 48% of the month's rain in one day.

March is statistically steady but not small: the year-to-year variation is modest in relative terms, yet the wettest March on record still delivered 160 mm against 28 mm in the driest. In a month this wet, even a tame spread is a lot of rain in absolute terms — the 96 mm average is a reasonable planning figure, not a promise.

Wind is light at 1.9 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 78%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How March sits in the year

The month is on the way up: 4.6 °C warmer than February, and April adds another 5.9 °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 1.1 hours across the month. That is between Raleigh's extremes of 14.6 and 9.8 hours, so days are long enough not to constrain the plan.

An inland climate

With no coast nearby, the year swings a fair way — 34.6 °C between the warmest afternoons and the coldest nights, wider than any coastal city at this latitude would manage.

How busy it gets

Shoulder. The value months — prices ease off and you get the place closer to itself.

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

March in Raleigh versus nearby

If Raleigh is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Charlotte is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, the same number of rain days. Richmond is the weaker option in March — 7.3 °C cooler, 10 days more rain.

So: March works, with October the better month by 16 points if the dates can move. If they cannot, nothing here should stop you booking.

Every month in Raleigh

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