Weather in Richmond in March

The month to avoid. March is the month most people should skip in Richmond. Highs sit at 8.8 °C and the day is short; this is an indoors-with-excursions month, not an outdoors-all-day one.

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

Rain on 20 of the month's 31 days, 5 of them heavy. At that frequency a wet-weather backup is not a contingency, it is the itinerary — book the indoor things first and treat the clear days as the bonus. Layers, and a genuinely waterproof outer — at 8.8 °C the difference between a good day and a miserable one is entirely down to what you are wearing.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: the day barely swings — 4.4 °C between the overnight low and the afternoon high. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest March day reached 17.4 °C and the coldest night fell to -4.7 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 42 mm — roughly 30% 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 253 mm against 35 mm in the driest. In a month this wet, even a tame spread is a lot of rain in absolute terms — the 142 mm average is a reasonable planning figure, not a promise.

Wind is light at 7.3 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 83%, which at 8.8 °C means damp rather than muggy — the kind of cold that gets into a coat and stays there.

How March sits in the year

The month is on the way up: 2 °C warmer than February, and April adds another 2.9 °C. Late in the month feels noticeably different from the start of it, which is worth knowing if the trip is short. Rain is the thing that moves: April brings 5 days less of it, so pushing the dates later buys drier weather.

Daylight in March

11.9 hours of daylight, gaining 1.2 hours across the month. That is between Richmond's extremes of 14.7 and 9.6 hours, so days are long enough not to constrain the plan.

An inland climate

Despite being inland, the year stays fairly even: 18.7 °C between the year's warmest afternoons and coldest nights.

How busy it gets

Off season. The genuine off season: cheapest by a distance, with the caveat that some tours and restaurants close entirely.

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

March in Richmond versus nearby

If Richmond is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Virginia Beach is a better bet in March — 3.6 °C warmer, 10 days less rain. Washington is a better bet in March — 2.8 °C warmer, 11 days less rain.

So: March is a compromise. July is 63 points better and is what Richmond 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 Richmond

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