Weather Overview in Morocco During March
Weather is one of the most easily and frequently obtained pieces of information. For centuries, local people have had their own methods for interpreting nature to forecast the weather. The more scientific approach to weather prediction, meteorology, developed during the nineteenth century. The use of observation stations scattered around the globe between 30°N and 30°S, and satellites, brought a revolution to modern meteorology and the prediction of weather events.
Weather forecasts are expensive to produce because of the sophisticated technology involved, but, in developed countries, the information is freely available in many forms. Unreliable weather forecasts can usually be ignored, but, if one is planning a wedding or outdoor picnic for next Sunday, a weather forecast predicting rain will likely influence one’s decisions. More accurate predictions are based on weather models that use large stores of observational data to create complex mathematical models of the atmosphere’s behavior. A significant change in the predicted values, moreover, in the last moment, must be taken into account.
Morocco has a diverse climate and a wide range of weather conditions. Diverse weather conditions are important in the study of the prediction of weather events. This research has been used to study the forecast of some kinds of weather events. The aim of this paper is to provide a brief review of the Moroccan weather overview in March during twelve years. It is organized as follows: a brief description of weather data and methodology; a discussion of the results; and summary and conclusion.
Geographical Context
2. Geographical Context Morocco is situated in North West Africa, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, which separate it from the more northern countries, went to the west by the Saharan desert, which drains into the Atlantic and eastwards through its plateaus and ridges of the Atlas Mountains continues into Algeria and Tunisia. The Moroccan territory embraces a variety of landscapes. The mountain chains run from east into a south-north direction with a gap, the so-called Bouselham Strait. The west and south west are bordered by the broad plain of the Atlantic Coast, which is much used for agriculture and fruit-growing. The east is formed by the low plateaus of the East. The central district, which exposes a more succulent green, is formed by the High Atlas Mountains, whose peaks excel about 3000 m height. The south of the district is dotted by many valleys along whose banks a rich vegetation grows.
An attribute of no small importance is the geographical situation of Morocco. It is the first which an incidentally with weak points, whilst the modern for Transport, maneuvers of supplies and goods are directly connected with industry and maritime trade. Secondly it has a special height, which correspond in its own climate. There are Mediterranean and Saharan climates. Most of Morocco has a Mediterranean climate; hot, dry summers and cool, rainy winters. The mountainous regions of Central Morocco might get heavy snowfall during the winter, while summer temperatures here are lower than in the lowland areas. Parts of the coastal areas have a typical maritime climate; however, their winter precipitation is not as high as in most coastal regions.
Location and Topography
Morocco lies in the extreme north-west of Africa, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Algeria to the east and southeast, and Western Sahara to the south. In the northern part of Morocco, the country exhibits a Mediterranean geographical distribution, whereas a clear Saharan climate prevails in the southern areas. Although the country exhibits a high climatic gradient, where temperature and rainfall can vary substantially through short distances, the geography of Morocco tends to exhibit a symmetrical organization around the Middle Atlas mountain range, which occupies a central position across the country, while dominating the water divide between Atlantic and Mediterranean rivers. The northern area of the country is characterized by a rugged stretch of mountains and hills which break sharply to the west into the lower coastal plain and associated beaches. The coastal plain descends gently inwards from the shoreline and culminates inland in a series of flat-topped, rocky tablelands. The Mediterranean slope includes several wind-blown and rain-removed limestone masses shaped into pinnacles and hills. These coast mountains, though not high in comparison with the summits of the Atlas, are nevertheless wild and picturesque, and critical in the context of the values endowed by the Mediterranean.
Southwest of the coastal plain and sand dunes of the Atlantic lie the broad, low-lying, semiarid plains of the Pleistocene and Holocene, and still farther inland the series of parallel, slightly elevated plateaus, underlain by older sedimentary rocks that occupy nearly half of Morocco’s land area. North of these plains are the ruggedly serrated mass of the Middle Atlas with snowcapped peaks. Further inland is the flat, periodically flooded, clay-salt-deposit expanse of the Chao river basin, extending southward into the largely vacant regions of rough foothills, continuing southward across the High Atlas to the high Saharan plateau of the Anti-Atlas.
Climate Zones
To understand the climate of Morocco, one must first mention its geographic diversity and its geographical location, as these two aspects will determine the diversity of its climate. Morocco occupies a very strategic geographical position, located at the intersection of the European and African continents. It is located in the North-West of the African continent. Geography helped give Morocco a climate characterized by its diversity and complexity specifying that his North has a Mediterranean climate, its internal plateaus are semi-arid, the Oriental South-East has a mountain climate, and the interior and southern provinces are desert. According to this classification, Morocco is divided into four climates: Mediterranean climate, continental climate, oceanic climate, and desert climate. Each of these climates exists in a given region of the country, while other regions are characterized by more than one type of climate. The Mediterranean climate is characterized by hot, dry summers and very wet, mild winters. The distribution of rainfall is uneven and abundant from November to March, while it is almost null from June to August. This type of climate is located on the northern coasts of Morocco and the Mediterranean; from Tangier to Saïdia, the high hills, and the Middle Atlas mountain range; from Kilim Kilim to Bou Iblane. The oceanic climate is also characterized by hot, dry summers, but wet winters. Rainfall is abundant from October to June, with a maximum in March-April and a minimum between July and September. This climate prevails over the western littoral, especially the coastal regions of Essaouira, Safi, and Marrakech. The continental climate is characterized by hot, dry summers and cold, dry winters. Rainfall is low and concentrated in winter. This climate prevails in the interior plains of Morocco, particularly in the regions of Fes, Meknes, and Gharb. The desert climate is characterized by very dry, hot summers and mild winters with rare rains. It prevails mainly in the southern provinces of Morocco, particularly in the regions of Tafilalet and Chichaoua.
General Weather Patterns in March
March is the period in which there is a generalization of mild temperatures throughout Morocco. Nights and mornings remain cool in certain regions, especially in the interiors of the northern provinces and in the southern provinces. The increase in temperatures takes place due to the increase in the altitude of the sun at the rate of 1°C every 10 days, which is noted after the equinox. In the north, average maximums vary from 17 to 19°C, average minimums from 6 to 8°C. In the southwest, these values are 20-22°C and 9-11°C, and in the northeastern regions bordering the Sahara, it is 25-30°C and 12-15°C. Adaptation to the temperature increase begins around the second week of the month, which is fortunately interrupted, in the majority of the region, by the last generalizations of rain.
In March, precipitation mainly affects the northwest and the northern mountains and decreases sharply towards the southeast and the eastern interior. Precipitation tends to be slightly marked at the beginning of the month and its distribution becomes very irregular during the second decade. Towards the end of the month, it usually resumes with disturbed passages, which are sometimes made by snow in the Moroccan Atlas and mainly during the first half of the month. March almost invariably sees the highest winds of the year blowing over a considerable southeast section. Western winds also affect the northeast of the country but much more weakly. The hot winds, regularly appreciable at that time of the year, are not very irritating compared to those of May.
Temperature Trends
The month of March is a remarkable transition between winter and spring, with temperature trends that reveal several variations. A wide variety of temperatures are recorded, both daily and monthly. The mean temperature for the area of interest varies between 2°C and 20°C, or around 2.3°C to around 23°C for all of Morocco, and a long-term mean of all available March monthly means indicates that this month is invariably warmer than February. Analysis of the monthly means between Morocco’s five meteorological stations throughout the fifteenth and the late twentieth century, primarily for the central coastal area, suggested that a rise of 1.13°C, 1.77°C, 0.93°C, 0.77°C, and 0.32°C droppings per decade was observed for Rabat, Kenitra, Casablanca, Marrakech, and Fes, respectively.
March is generally mild, with a rising warm tendency in air temperature, especially in the southern provinces of the country. The diurnal variability (difference between maximum and minimum daily temperatures) is more pronounced than that for January and February, seasons that were predominantly characterized by the spatial effects of the North Atlantic Oscillation. Furthermore, near the coastal area, the precipitation from the previous winter accumulates, and the weather remains relatively humid. Temperature is usually lower along the coast, increasing with distance until close to the southern border with the Sahara Desert. Regions such as southern Souss or southeast Sahara experience relatively hot daytime temperatures, ranging between 24°C and 36°C or so, but undergo a dramatic drop between day and night in the southern interior regions.
Precipitation Levels
March remained a month whose precipitation levels were close to their average, despite some regions being marked by excess precipitation. This was the case for the eastern and southeastern regions, which had rainfall levels that were, for some cities, 200% above the average. Rainfall was not abundant but was constant, with a rhythm of almost two days of rain every week. The only present rainy days in the north of the center were the high plains and some low places. In March, the dry season began to take hold on the interior of the Moroccan and Atlas, and in many locations, the rainy days were scarce during the month. The few rainy episodes were due to the passage of front systems during the last days of the month. On the Atlantic slope, rainfall was above normal during the first half of the month, and in the southern province of Guelmim, pre-colonial rains were included. However, the Levant region and the southern zone once again presented a dry aspect. The beginning of the dry season increased the forest fire indices and, during the last few days, the harmful talk about the locust, always loved by the Sierra of the Aisal populations. Although the situation of April had shown days, some of them very close to 30°C day, these summer temperatures were not extended, and during the month, it was possible to shoot in several afternoons some snowfall in the lofty peaks of the Atlas. The pre-summer aspects did not arrive until the most southerly provinces, verifying some days of rutilant sun at Diouth and the Anti-Atlas.
Wind Patterns
Examining the wind pattern’s spatial distribution seems to be of equal, if not even more, importance in terms of understanding the complex governing processes of the March surface temperature and precipitation fields over Morocco. One way to characterize these wind patterns is to apply a weather-type classification, whose aim is to classify the wind and other meteorological parameters into a small number of well-defined categories with known physical meanings. It has been repeatedly shown to be useful in the analysis of observed and modelled meteorological fields. Its applications include study of climate variability at a range of different time scales, the statistical downscaling of precipitation, as well as the temperature or precipitation trend attribution studies. For March, as expressed by the NAO index, there are no significant atmospheric circulation anomalies. Consistent with this finding, warmth-producing S-SW moist circulation, which drives precipitation in the main amounts, is roughly equally likely to occur in March of positive and negative years, as well as in neutral years. More specifically, for March, the vast majority of SE-S-SW moist cyclone paths which drive precipitation in the main amounts, arrive from ranges of Hermon, Olivet, Anti-Lebanon, Taurus and Aksu, traversing the East Mediterranean basin and/or the area along the East Mediterranean, mainly contributing to the eventual transport of moisture to Morocco. The vast majority of factors chosen in this work are already known to be good predictors of warm temperatures and significant precipitation deficit during March.
Morocco Regional Weather Variations
Largely due to its latitudinal range, proximity to Atlantic and Mediterranean, elevation variations, and day actions, Morocco features pronounced regional differences. March weather varies frequently and unpredictably, validating the popular Moroccan proverb. For fortune tellers, however, March is a hazardous month. The trade winds similar to those of early summer blow occasionally. During periods plagued with these winds, a sudden fall in temperature leaves travelers unexpectedly in shivering. The shifts are abrupt and jarring.
Coastal Areas Temperatures in coastal areas between Tangier and Agadir fluctuate between 21 and 66 °F. Daily variations in temperature are small. Weather generally is pleasant and dry. Heavy rains are rare, only a few times in March. However, winds are strong and frequent, the famous Moroccan terral and pailleux, easterly and northerly wrath, which bend olive trees.
Inland Regions Across the interior, found the lowest temperatures of the country at Taza and the first daylight hours at Marrakech. In the two valleys: Dades-Gorge, schist is sand-blasts at 172. At Boumalene, the average temperature is between 38 and 64 °F. Winds blowing from the Atlantic meet with problems in the Haut-Atlas which absorb the moisture. Very rarely can spring be miserable in the ocean regions of Agadir and Essaouira where sunshine exits for less than 51 hours a month. Very fine days bathe the white coats of the small menhirs of the Aouchtam region in sunshine at Cape.
Coastal Areas
Morocco has several microclimate areas that differ significantly from the general country climate. The observed climate types are: Coastal, Inland and Plateau, Mountain and Desert, where each type has its unique parameters.
4.1. Coastal Areas
The coastal area shows a typical Mediterranean climate with a small variation with respect to monthly mean temperature. The coldest month is January with a mean temperature of about 10 °C, and the warmest month is August with a temperature of about 25 °C. The seasonal variation is 15 °C during the year, but this value changes from one place to another. The coastal area has a humid winter, a warm and a dry summer. The seasonal variation of temperature shows a maximum change of 30 °C from winter to summer that happens in July and August. The monthly mean temperature for July is about 20 °C, and about 10 °C for January.
The coastal area has important differences. For instance, in Casablanca, the season is cooler and rainy while in Agadir the season is warm and it rains very little. The difference can be attributed to the presence of the warm ocean. The coastal climate is pleasant in winter but a little colder in summer than the inland regions. The summer is not very hot, and the local people usually retreat to the beach areas. Precipitation in this region has two observed peaks: the first one is from November to January and the second in March. The rainy season occupies the winter and part of the spring. The amount of precipitation during the rainy season can be divided into three categories using the summer amount: for warm winters, the mean precipitation is more than three times the summer amount; for moderate winters, the mean precipitation is moderated, about three times the summer amount; for cool winters, the mean precipitation is less than three times the summer amount.
Inland Regions
Morocco’s mid-section experiences diverse weather patterns. As spring nears, southern and western Drâa weather becomes pleasant, while the central region experiences dry and hot weather. In March, the regions with a hot inland climate typically witness a weather transition from cold and wet to warm and dry. During the month, warming months are established with increasing daily temperatures that are often higher than 25 ºC. However, very low temperatures can occur at night in certain areas. Some days with even colder minima than others are reported in some years. Rainy days decrease toward dryness, and stormy days begin to be observed, while the monthly distribution of the relative frequency of days with some cloud cover indicates stability in clouds in the first part, progressive clearing in the central part, and greater instability and lower percentage of days with some cloud in the last part.
In inland southern and western Drâa, high temperatures typical of the start of the month favor the melting or resulting discharge of the remaining snow accumulated in the mountains at the end of February. Early March days are often hot. The arrival of the first dynamic situations can provoke instability periods, favoring thermally induced cumulus-tower clouds and isolated storm activity. As in the northern interior, convective cloudy days appear at the end of March. A persistent stability with dry southeast wind and rising temperatures; southerly low, more humid air intrusions; and cooler and wetter conditions due to a temporary discontinuity of the dry winter regime are the weather options available in March, depending on the easterly or westerly position of the high geopotential ridge.
Mountainous Areas
In the month of March in Morocco’s mountainous areas, temperatures are relatively mild during the day. At the summits of the mountains, it will continue to be colder with daytime temperatures of about 1 or 2 degrees Celsius lower than at the altitudes of 1500-2000 meters, where practically the whole human activity is concentrated. In fact, in the valley of Tessaout, situated within the borders of the district of Beni Mellal of the region of Tadla-Azilal, in the shade but in the sun is warm between 12 and 20 degrees during the day at the end of the month; and one would almost be able to feel like having it hot if the Siroco blows. The preceding temperature values of about 8-16 degrees for the end of the month and at the altitude of around 2000 meters are valid as general temperature norms of the whole of Morocco’s high altitude regions and of the underlying stages of the vast mass of the Saharan Atlas.
As in the thermoclimatic, the exception inside the Moroccan mountainous area, always on account of its meridional, ultra-continental position, is the Saharan Atlas, where not even in March the nights become warm. In its summits and during this month, there occur daily snow showers especially in the beginning. Little forecasted wind blows, traveling about 80% of the already small frequency of the winds; that is, you will be able to pick up the reverse of 70-80% of the days with totally clear skies or with a state of sky without cloudiness or only with some cirrus or some cirrostratus.
Desert Regions
Temperatures are mostly high in the desert regions north of the Atlas Mountain between the southern ends of the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts. At these months the fluctuations in daytime temperatures are huge, from sometimes below freezing at night to higher than 33ºC during the day, and night time cooling could be painful.
The local Saharan winds with their demurring blowing raised dust layers during daytime in these regions are hot winds if they blow southwards – this means that the wind usually starts blowing into Morocco at the beginning of the sunny afternoon and keeps blowing in this direction until sunrise, when the heat and such excessive drying of the body leads to unpleasant feelings on the part of the passerby. When these Saharan winds were blown backwards, blowing northwards, they were actively cooled down by the night temperature and by the influential coldness of the nearby Atlantic ocean, leading to favorable weather and – a wonderful chance to behold the beauties of the Moroccan desert at night, being simply immersed in its incredible silence.
Morocco Weather in March by cities
Below, you can find more specific weather information by region/city about Morocco in March.
4.1 Marrakech weather in March
March is a relatively pleasant month in Marrakech, with daylight temperatures depending on the year, ranging from 19ºC to 23ºC (and dropping to 6ºC at night), perfect for discovering Morocco’s red city. With eight hours of sunshine, you can easily spend the day walking around, visiting gardens, palaces, museums, souks, and/or having lunch at Jemaa el Fna square. In this month, the risk of rain is insignificant, with an average rainfall of only 15mm. In shorter terms, on your trip to Marrakech, you will surely enjoy springtime.
4.2 Merzouga and Sahara desert
When March arrives, the weather in the Sahara region changes from cold to mild. In Merzouga, the capital of desert tourism, the warm days (with highs fluctuating between 19ºC to 24ºC) contrast sharply with the cold nights (between 4ºC and 8ºC). Although the desert never gets humid, on this month, the nights are dry and in the sun, the perceived temperature does not seem cold at all. March is thus a popular month for camel excursions to the dunes to see the sunset and windsurf on the huge sand dunes. As in Marrakech, the risk of rain is tiny, with an average precipitation of only 15mm.
4.3 North of morocco and Fes
In these regions, March marks the end of winter. While the weather in Tangier is fresh, with maximums remaining around 17ºC and below, in Chefchaouen and Fes, temperatures are starting to rise (highs about 20ºC). But in these last two cities, nights are still cold (with lows between 5ºC and 9ºC) but less so than in February. In March, rain also tends to stop falling in Fes, with an average precipitation of about 35mm. If you ask me what would be the best month to visit Fes, I would say March. Visiting the streets of Bric en Brac and its gutters adorned with flowers is at this time a real pleasure.
4.4 Casablanca
The city is drier than the previous ones with only about 30mm of average precipitation and many sunny days (seven hours); the highs are around 20ºC while the coldest (but again, not excessively cold) the nights are at about 10ºC. Therefore, visiting sites such as Hassan II mosque or the Royal Palace and/or strolling through the medina of the Atlantic coast is a delight.
Marrakech weather in March
Located in the southwest of Morocco, Marrakech typically enjoys mild, dry, and sunny weather in March. After a long winter season, it is time for spring in Marrakech! This month also marks the beginning of the tourist season in Marrakech. The town is lively again; the hotels and riads become fully booked and the terraces of the cafés fill up again. Marrakech is known for being one of the hottest cities in the country, during the summer months exceed an average of 35 degrees and can sometimes reach extreme temperatures of 42 degrees. Being low-lying and sheltered by the bordering mountains, winters in Marrakech can be a bit rough, with quite some chilly nights and temperatures sometimes dropping under 0 degrees. Just as in February, March is one of the best months of the year to discover the cities and the attractions in and around Marrakech, such as the Atlas Mountains, the Ourika Valley, the Kasbahs in the South or the Ouzoud Waterfalls to the North-East.
Rain is also scarce: a few showers may occur, but in general, it doesn’t rain so much at this time of the year. March is also the best time of the year for excursions in the Sahara Desert from Marrakech, especially for the Merzouga and Erg Chebbi Dunes tours. In March, visitors can still enjoy the tranquility of winter while an ever-increasing number of tourists are expected in the surrounding desert areas; tours and excursions and the nights in Berber tented desert camps are also open for booking again! The average temperature for the month of March in Marrakech is a maximum of 23 degrees and a minimum of 7 degrees. The average maximum temperature in Marrakech in March is 23 degrees and the lowest temperature is only 7 degrees.
Merzouga and Sahara desert
If you want to explore the Sahara desert, one of the best places to visit is undoubtedly Merzouga, a small village located southeast of the Atlas mountains, just a few kilometers from the largest dunes of the Erg-Chebbi, which attract thousands of tourists annually. March marks the end of winter, so the climate is pleasant, and it’s one of the recommended months for desert tours. The month of March marks the transition between winter and spring, and in Merzouga, the climate is mild during the daytime but cold at night. For example, during the second decade of March, the minimum temperature is around 4 °C while the maximum reaches 20 °C. However, it is not uncommon to find colder temperatures, especially after a cold night, and with a lucky weather forecast, it’s possible to see snow at the top of the Atlas mountains. The atmosphere is dry, and rainfall is scarce. Bring warm clothes, especially warm shoes and jackets because even if the days are nice, morning departures in desert excursions, at an altitude of more than 2000 meters, tend to freeze. And keep in mind that the weather can vary a lot, so if properly equipped, you can also meet cold and snowy weather. During the hottest months of the year, from April to September, temperatures can easily reach 45 °C; so, if you are going for a short trip to Morocco, March is one of the recommended months for desert tours.
North of morocco and Fes
In March, the weather in northern Morocco is significantly different from the south, as the days are rainier and much cooler. Streets in Casablanca use regularly for the beach will still be quiet, at least in the first half of the month. Very few people will swim in the Atlantic Ocean, as the waters will be very cold to the rest of the Moroccan climate. The last part of the month will be more favorable for tourists. This fast weather change is meriting of notice since it might seem the beginning of spring throughout the country. However, as we will also see below, the March days in Fez are on average in terms of temperatures and dry conditions. Cities like Fes will have 136 mm of water during the month, while Assilah, located a few kilometers from Tangiers, has over 50% of the days of the month with no rainfall. The average daily temperature is in Assilah around 16° C while in Fes it is at about 19° C, the maximum wind chill at night is 8° C for Assilah and 9° C for Fes. Daytime temperatures will be mild and up to 22° C in Assilah and 24° C in Fes, being a pleasant moment to visit the Medina of these cities. At the end of the month, you can already find days of more than 30° C, perfect weather to feel the big change of this city for a few months. Despite sharing good weather with southern Moroccan cities, Fes presents characteristics that make it worth a visit. Fes was founded in the 9th century and is not only the oldest imperial city in Morocco but is also the cultural capital, where the oldest Medina in the world, which is the most populated, where walking through its alleyways is truly a marvel, where you can also see the tanners in the famous Tanneries, engraving the leather with ancient methods.
Casablanca
Our goal is to provide insight into Morocco’s weather in March, mainly in the center and northern areas. For this reason we selected various cities along these regions. In this section we reveal the weather in Casablanca during March for a better travel preparation to Morocco.
Casablanca is the largest city of Morocco and considered the economic and financial capital of the country. The weather in Casablanca in March is cloudy with sunny interludes, wet with moderate pleasant temperatures. You can take short sunbathing, but be prepared for cloudy skies and quite fresh sea water. In addition to the sun necessities, I strongly recommend taking your rain protection gear for unpleasants days during your visit.
Temperature averages (day and night) in March in Casablanca return to normal monthly range. Do not forget that Casablanca weather can be quite windy because of its coastal position. Temperatures reach between and maximum and between at night. Sea temperature recovers some degrees in comparison with February, remaining fresh for swimming but hot enough for relaxing in the water. Rain occur around days in precuperation period and days in the second half of the month, but it can rain hard. In general, these numbers give a brief indication of occuring precipitation. There are in average about hours of sun per day, spread out along afternoons, when you can feel the strength of the sun. The north-easterly trade wind can reach at times, but it is more likely in the morning and becoming lighter as the day goes on; sometimes blowing at high speed can be annoying.
Impact of March Weather on Agriculture
The growing demands and expectations of the agricultural sector, as well as its strong reliance on weather conditions and almost exclusive dependence on rainfall, have initiated the development of agrometeorology in Morocco. This relationship has revealed mutual benefits for both agriculture and meteorological services: the former has been provided with agrometeorological support in order to achieve better yield predictions; and the latter has benefited from remunerated agricultural activity during the fallow period.
The agrometeorology sector has established a solid philosophical basis as a discipline within climatology and synoptic meteorology by studying the response of crops and cropping systems to climate and weather variability and change. In a broader sense, agrometeorology considers the interactions between weather, crops, and livestock, but it derives its scientific base from climatology and meteorology. It is these branches of science that deal with climate and weather, their patterns and processes.
5.1. Crop Growth Cycles
Knowledge of growing cycles is fundamental to the successful application of agricultural methods. These cycles depend upon crop variety and responding weather parameters. In Morocco, psychrophilic varieties bloom in late March or early April, while the phreatophilic varieties bloom at the end of April. A significant and constant relationship has been found between the flowering date and temperature conditions during the flowering period, but also depends on the growing cycle and has been proposed for the introduction of an agrometeorological model useful for agriculture in order to predict blooming dates. As for white blossoming in grapes, the response seems even more important to take into consideration than that of vernalization. According to other studies, snow cover duration of 20–30 days in March seems conducive to good agronomic production.
5.2. Water Resources Management
Water scarcity is the principal challenge facing Moroccan farmers. Since the mid-1990s, part of this development has focused more and more on overexploiting the two groundwater aquifers and studying their impact on surface hydrology. Hence, the study of snowpack, instrumental data-driven modeling estimators, climate variability, and change have been used to better understand the interannual variability of snowfall in the high Atlas region and consequently, its impact on subsequent river flow and water management, essential in agrometeorology. Climate-induced hydrology models have recently been developed and applied in order to reproduce the whole hydrological chain in Morocco.
Crop Growth Cycles
Climate directly influences crop growth which is predicted according to its phenological cycle. The duration of this cycle is intimately related to climatic parameters, mainly temperature and precipitation. Morocco’s flora may be affected by climatic changes in various aspects such as composition, growth, and flowering of certain plants, as well as their geographical distribution, the movements of their populations, and the natural rhythm of ecosystems. Rain-fed agriculture in Morocco depends heavily on rainfall at specific periods of the cropping cycle. In March, the land is usually occupied by different agricultural plants. Crop growth and intensity are determined mainly by the climate at the pre-flowering stage; it is particularly sensitive to the temperature regime and change in precipitation. Quinoa is a salt-resistant plant that can grow in regions that are unfit for other crops. In Morocco, quinoa is grown mainly in the eastern region, in rocky and semi-arid zones. In general, this plant’s cycle varies between 102 and 133 days, from sowing to seed maturation. The pollination of this plant is sensitive to high temperatures and to lack of rainfall. For chickpeas, the cycle comprises 85-120 days, from sowing to maturation.
Wheat is the second cereal crop in the cropping area after barley. Its cycle varies between 120 days for early maturing varieties and 210 days for late-maturing varieties. The flowering and grain filling stages are sensitive to heat and water. During this period, temperatures above 20°C lead to an increase in evapotranspiration and water stress, which negatively influence the wheat yield. The flowering stage occurs between mid-April and mid-May in the majority of cases. For barley, the cycle varies between 80 and 120 days, depending on climate conditions.
Water Resources Management
Water resources management is a vital sector for the future of sustainability in Morocco. In fact, it is an essential sector for the future. In this highly-drying country and region, the challenge of water policy consists essentially of limiting the growth of demand in relation to the available and exploitable resources. Agriculture, which is the main consumer of water and which accounts each year for half of the withdrawals, recorded a progressive decrease in its share of national income, which fell from 16 to 10 percent in the last twenty years. The reasons are increasing non-agricultural demand and the limited development of resources, due in particular to demographic pressure. However, it is still difficult to channel investments in non-agricultural development, since, until now, growth has essentially taken place in urban areas. The battle for economic equity requires that the regions and populations that are strictly dependent on agriculture, including the ecological and environmental dimensions, are not sacrificed, and that agriculture remains an important sector for Morocco, in which imports should not be considered as a substitute for the exploitation of the natural potential of production. March is a key month in the agro-ecological calendar, since it is an important pivotal month during which farmers implement important agricultural activities that guarantee good production. Indeed, with regard to the components of climate variability, they play an essential role in the agro-meteorological functioning in Mediterranean basins. Unfortunately, in Morocco, in addition to scarce and irregular rainfall, the country has witnessed these last two decades a significant deficit in irrigation water resources and groundwater depletion, due either to a decrease in feeding or to discharge due to irrigation. The temporal and spatial extremes of climate variability essentially determine the functioning of water resources and the inter-annual fluctuations of production.
Tourism Considerations
Morocco is a buzzing touristic destination throughout most of the year. Every year, thousands of tourists from diverse backgrounds visit the country and discover its marvelous culture, rich history, and magnificent landscapes. The weather in Morocco is vital for your travel experience since it affects the comfort of your walking tours and various other activities. If you are looking for warm and pleasant weather on the coast, March is still a little early. It’s good for a short trip, but we suggest traveling more towards the end of March. If you are going to force yourself to stick to the coast during the weekend or get bored because it’s too cold in the inland, then you can enjoy March’s discount rates compared to the other periods of the year. If you’re going to head into the interior and mountains of Morocco, any time except the peak summer months are perfect for late-winter or early-spring travel.
Not all parts of Morocco have pleasant weather and suit outdoor activities in March. If you want to hike, climb, or ski, go to the mountains. However, be careful: the weather can change from one moment to another and you might get surprised if you plan too long excursions or to get to the summits. Prepare your trekking tours carefully: don’t hesitate to ask the locals for advice before you leave. In the interior, the sky is often blue and the sun is shining whereas the snowy peaks of the Atlas are hidden by a thick cloud and the whole region lacks sunshine in the winter. On the coast, the pleasant weather can be disturbed by strong winds and rain, and you may find parts of the coastline in southern Morocco still close to the cooling!
To ensure comfort during your travels, packing the appropriate clothing is essential. Layering is a key component of your packing strategy. Bring light trousers together with a comfy sweater; don’t hesitate to put two of them on if necessary. Long-sleeved T-shirts will offer protection against the sun in case you hesitate whether to risk sunburn. It’s good to bring a windproof anorak or a fleece jacket; they should help you battle the bitter cold when the winds pick up.
Best Travel Destinations
As with other transition months of the year, March can be regarded as a good time for visiting Morocco. The pressure of tourism is rather weak; weather is generally pretty acceptable for various types of outdoor activities; and during the first part of the month, the surrounding areas of the touristy cities are still green and may enhance the impression of the whole country. For visits to the Sahara, however, traveling during the last 10 days of March appears to be favorable, with relatively stable sunny weather patterns being expected. Since the country is big, people planning a trip to Morocco have to be aware of the fact that the climate in this country is not very homogeneous. In the event of conditions being not favorable in your selected destination, it is often possible to reach out of that by moving to a direction implying warmer conditions with not much effort.
Thus, just to give an example, it is certainly possible to spend an excellent week in Morocco in March by visiting the southern parts of the country, including Marrakech and the nearby coastal city of Essaouira, the valleys of the Antiatlas or the High Atlas if there is no longer fresh snow, and maybe a few days trekking in the Sahara. For a safer bet regarding the weather, you should travel there during the second half or even the last 10 days of March. Daily temperatures are expected to be constantly sunny and relatively warm, quite a change from what was experienced during the days preceding departure.
Activities to do in March according to the weather
In the neighboring countries of the Maghreb, such as Algeria, Libya, or Tunisia, it is technically possible to spend a few days at the beach in mid-March, but the experience is certainly disappointing in a region where the sun already shines unrelentingly in summer. In Morocco, the beach experience certainly cannot be called exciting in mid-March, but it is certainly much more acceptable. Therefore, those who wish to escape the gray and cold of Central Europe can already book a few days on the Atlantic coast, for example in Agadir or Essaouira. However, it is advisable to clarify these details before traveling because many hotels and establishments refuse to open before Easter. In the beach resorts of southern Morocco, the climatic conditions are certainly good enough to spend a few days lying on the beach and swimming, but for those who want to practice some nautical activities, the strong wind typical of that era can create some problems. For the rest of the country, it is still too cold to practice some physical activity in the water, such as rafting. The climatic conditions for this type of activity gradually improve in Rabat and the north of the country, and are at their best at the end of the month in Marrakesh and its surroundings. March is also a great month in northern Morocco for trekking or hiking lovers. The higher elevations of the mountain valleys may still have a little snow, but the landscapes are magnificent to discover. The green hills of the Middle Atlas are also at their best, with a few scattered spring flowers around. The only restriction for this region is that nights are still cold and it is advisable to sleep in a heated refuge.
Packing Recommendations for March weather
There is a famous saying that “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb,” but don’t be fooled by this friendly expression. March is one of the most unpredictable months when it comes to weather. March in Morocco is the beginning of spring. In the weather in March, you will definitely see, and feel the transitions and changes from winter to spring. Unless you want to carry more than you need, travel as light as possible. This is the motto of every traveler. No one wants to lug around a weighty bag. But for March weather in Morocco – you need to travel heavy if you want comfort. If possible, try to cater to both ends. March in Morocco is chilly in the morning, moderately warm by noon, and freezing at sunset. Pack a light thermal jacket for the mornings and evenings. A thick windbreaker used as a shell over a lighter coat works too. Wool sweaters, merino wool, or fleece pullovers also work absolutely well. Wear easy-to-remove layers. Long-sleeved skin-fitting tops and tees with elbow-length sleeves are advisable if you feel bulky. High-sleeved cotton tees and natural fiber shirts work just as well. Pack hiking pants if you plan to travel to mountaineer areas – you can always wear a pair of jeans, but denim is cold in winter and hot in summer. Also pack a pair of shorts, just in case there is a sudden heat wave. If traveling to the Sahara desert or to high-altitude mountain areas, pack a good quality hat, sunglasses, and proper sunscreen. You really don’t want to have the end of a sunburned nose – it will hang around for weeks.
Climate Change Considerations
The connection between climate change and the altered timing and nature of weather-related events in Morocco has become increasingly prominent in recent decades. While March is only a sampling of the overall trends shown in the country, it’s worth pointing out that March overall is becoming increasingly dry and warm in Morocco. As climate change advances in the upcoming decades, these alterations may only be further accentuated. For example, the 2050 year climate will feature several day shifts toward earlier dates in the spring and in the summer if we assume a stable seasonality. The major date of the transition to summer at the Tafraoute station is expected to be 10 days earlier.
The new climates in March and April, influenced by the dry future valorization, both crowd and emphasize the overall return level of the transitional climate state. Thus, in March over Morocco predicts the appearance of March with characteristics closer to those one could expect with the driest forcing level with significantly increased temperatures than observed until now. In particular, the rainy and snowy precipitation usually observed in March is not at all expected. The envisaged March would present hardly any source of humidity certainly beneficial for the flourishing of terrestrial and aerial ecosystems. The overall drought of this March, colder than now but still drier than that of the present, is likely to be a prelude to the very dry and warm April climates of the nearest future. This establishes an expectation of a strong sudden damage caused on these years in comparison with realities and expectations on natural plurisembarques by their very intimate relationships that can be illustrated using the relationship between the rainfall return levels and the damage return levels.
Shifts in Weather Patterns
Climate records for Morocco show erosion of climatic stability. These changes are reflected in marked variations, widespread, and in the highly contrasted levels of distribution of climate indices of extremes: heat waves and droughts, floods and heavy showers, apparently clear days and hazy days of pollution, dust, or infections. The discussed results show that the current long period of high temperatures is the most extreme, unprecedented, and abnormal warming detected in Morocco in the last 1000 years, compared to past natural variability. In fact, the current long period of abnormally higher temperature is accompanied by a depletion of the coldest years and the decade of the 1910s and by the high variability of the 1930s and 1940s versus the long period of the normal-temperature years, that is, the absence of the very hot years between 1700 and 1950, the highest temperatures recorded in the last millennium.
The analysis of the temperature series shows a significant increase in the number of days of very hot above-normal temperatures and a significant reduction in the number of days with abnormally lower-normal temperatures. The snow cover during winter that is at its maximum thickness at the end of February over several massifs of the Moroccan Atlas has significantly regressed: in 74 years, the end-of-winter maximum has regressed upwards in altitude, on average, by more than 200 m on the Central High Atlas and by more than 350 m on the Southern High Atlas; in addition, the mass of snow covering the mountains in winter has significantly decreased to less than 10% in certain massifs.
Impact on Local Ecosystems
The peculiarities of the meteorological conditions for the month of March 2023 in Morocco have had a determining impact on local ecosystems, at the same time adding more incertitude to the forecast of the impact of climate change on the future of these ecosystems in this region of North Africa. In general, these local ecosystems depend on a large number of parameters. Among them, we can cite the annual total precipitation and its distribution, but also its reunion in sufficient and well-distributed quantity. Indeed, the year 2022 was characterized by a significant deficit in total annual precipitation, and most precipitation fell in the month of September. This observed climatic behavior has a direct impact on various components of local ecosystems. This is how the year 2022 was marked by an important deficit in the biomass of herbaceous plants compared to previous years, in addition to the wilting and rapid drying of the latter. This observed behavior of herbaceous plants and their biomass is due mainly to the distribution of total precipitation and the significant deficit that is observed in March. The year 2022 was marked by the drying of herbaceous plants in mid-March, while the year 2023, which is noted for the wealth of precipitation accumulated in February, was marked by abundance in the biomass of herbaceous plants until the end of March.
Consequently, this type of climate, which is observed during the month of March, is mainly beneficial, on the one hand, to the development of the pre-blooming stage of the halophyte plants, which play a fundamental role in animal feeding in Morocco, by worrying about the animal population by affording an exploited phyto-pastoral resource, especially during dry years, on the other hand, and to the delay in the blooming and maturity stages of the plants, favored by an abundant and well distributed precipitation, on the other hand. These types of plants are very important because they determine the nature and composition of plant cover in low-salinity zones; they are mainly concerned with the vitality and production of herbaceous plants that are used for animal feeding.
Conclusion
Weather conditions are a determining factor for the successful growth of crops. Delay in sowing could have devastating results in terms of yield. Understanding the different stages in the development of crops, the risks of the different weather events and the interaction between the different crops and the weather are essential factors in the development of an agricultural strategy. An attempt has been made in this work to quantify the overall Moroccan climatic conditions in March. Of the 10 different weather factors used, 5 were eliminated. The eliminated parameters are precipitation, wind speed, cloud cover, minimum temperature and sunshine duration. The remaining five parameters are maximum temperature, relative humidity, soil temperature, evaporation and calculated number of frost days. These parameters have been organized into a data classification system according to the technical development stage of the crop. In order not to weigh too heavily on the table and to note any extreme values, we have grouped the values into not too many clusters in order to create a readable table. Factors that favor the creation of a bad atmosphere at the time of flowering and fructification, and therefore low and/or inappropriate yield, have been favored.
Weather data from the 20 March for the last 20 years are essentially public, and the data comes from a database. Also, students specializing in geostatistics have tools available that allow them to process this data and provide a qualitative report on its evolution over time. The aim of the work presented in this study is to provide students with an easy tool to use. By only modifying a single parameter, it becomes possible to know the hourly evolution on any day, at any latitude, and at any longitude of the five remaining meteorological parameters.
