Spring 2023 was dry and sunny, with overall normal temperatures

 Meteorological spring is from March 1 to May 31.  Overall, spring 2023 saw close to normal temperatures, but was much drier than normal.  

The mean temperature at Victoria Gonzales this past spring was 10.1 degrees, which is right on the 30-year average.  The average daily maximum for spring 2023 was 13.6 degrees , while the average daily minimum was 6.5, again both very close to the 30-year averages.  This masked some significant differences during the season.  March was 0.6 degrees C below normal, while April was a chilly 1.2 degrees C below normal.  That contrasted with May, which was the warmest May on record at Victoria Gonzales, a full 1.7 degrees C above normal.

The chart below shows the daily maximum and minimum temperatures at Victoria Gonzales during spring 2023, compared with the 30-year averages.  Temperatures during March were fairly close to normal, then during April they fell significantly below normal.  There was a spike in temperatures in late April, with temperatures getting into the low 20s, then an even bigger spike in mid-May, with temperatures reaching the low 30s.  Temperatures remained above normal for most of May.  The warmest temperature was 30.7 C on May 14.  In fact, this was the second highest temperature ever recorded at Victoria Gonzales in May.  The coldest temperature was 0.4 C on March 1.  There were no days below freezing during spring 2023.  Normal is 0.7 days.

Daily Max & Min temps vs 30-yr normal, Spring 2023

Following a drier than normal winter, Victoria experienced a dry spring in 2023.  There was 58.4 mm of rain, just over half of the normal 115.4 mm 

There were just 22 days with measurable rainfall during spring 2023, compared with the normal of 33 days.  There were 8 days in March (normal 14.5), 11 days in April (normal 10.3), and 3 days in May (normal 8.4).  The wettest day was May 5, when 12.4 mm of rain fell.

The chart below shows daily precipitation during spring 2023, and compares the cumulative precipitation with the 30-year average.  Precipitation tracked below average throughout the spring.  

Overall, spring 2023 was sunnier than normal.  March saw more sun than normal, while April saw less.  However, May was likely one of the sunniest Mays on record in Victoria, with an estimated 335 hours.  The official record is 356.4 hours from May 1963.  There were 40 mostly sunny days during spring 2023, including 22 mostly sunny days in May.