Longyearbyen weather in March

In March, Longyearbyen sees average daytime highs of -12°C and overnight lows near -17°C, with 35 mm of precipitation across 8.4 wet days and about 10 hours of daylight. It is the 12th-warmest and 7th-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near -12°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 5% of the time in March, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 5 h 36 min at the start of March to 14 hours by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, March is Longyearbyen's 4th-clearest and 5th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Longyearbyen's year-round climate.

Daytime high
-12°
12th warmest
Overnight low
-17°
1st coldest
Precipitation
35 mm
8.4 wet days
Daylight
10 h 06 min
7:04 AM – 5:10 PM
Cloud cover
82%
4th clearest
Wind
11 km/h
5th windiest
Solar energy
0.82 kWh/m²
Travel score
0.0
out of 10

Longyearbyen is town and administrative centre in Svalbard, Norway.

Density
10/km²
people per km²
Founded
1906

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Temperature in March

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near -12°C through the month.

A typical March day in Longyearbyen reaches about -12°C in the afternoon and slips back to -17°C overnight — a 4°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between -21°C and -3°C. Set against its neighbours, March runs on par with February and about 3°C cooler than April.

-30°-20°-10°151015202531
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
1-12-17
2-12-17
3-12-17
4-12-17
5-12-17
6-12-17
7-12-17
8-12-16
9-12-16
10-12-16
11-12-16
12-12-16
13-12-16
14-12-16
15-12-16
16-12-16
17-12-16
18-12-16
19-12-16
20-12-16
21-12-16
22-12-16
23-12-16
24-12-16
25-12-16
26-12-16
27-12-16
28-12-16
29-12-16
30-12-16
31-12-16

How March really feels in Longyearbyen

Once humidity and wind are folded in, March averages 0 days that feel above 32°C and 31 that feel at or below 0°C — the comfort signal a plain temperature reading hides.

Days feeling ≥ 32°C
0
heat index over the day's high
Days feeling ≤ C
31
31 feel bitter (≤ -10°C)

The story in March is cold — wind chill drags the overnight "feels like" below the raw low.

Longyearbyen weather by month

How March compares with the rest of the year at a glance. March is the 12th-warmest and 7th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysSnow daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan-11° / -16°438.910.900.0
Feb-12° / -16°317.1910.0
Mar-12° / -17°358.410.2100.0
Apr-9° / -13°236.88.719.30.0
May-3° / -5°2167.7240.0
Jun / 1853.7240.0
Jul / 328.21.1240.7
Aug / 4092.222.80.3
Sep / -1°459.85.313.70.0
Oct-4° / -8°419.194.40.0
Nov-7° / -12°4710.312.200.0
Dec-10° / -14°459.711.900.0

Cloud cover in March

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 5% of the time in March.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 13% of March, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 83%.

0%25%50%75%100%151015202531
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
11585
21585
31585
41585
51585
61585
71684
81684
91684
101684
111783
121783
131783
141783
151783
161783
171981
181981
191981
201981
211981
221981
232080
242080
252080
261981
272080
282080
292080
302080
312179

Chance of precipitation in March

Any precipitationSnow

Longyearbyen gets around 35 mm of rain and snow over 8.4 wet days in March. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable precipitation averages around 26% and peaks near 30% on the wettest days, and about 10 days bring snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%151015202531
Rain chance (%)Snow chance (%)
12733
22733
32833
42834
52934
62934
72935
83035
93036
103036
113036
122935
132935
142835
152834
162734
172733
182733
192632
202632
212631
222531
232430
242429
252328
262328
272227
282227
292227
302227
312227

Humidity in March

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of March feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

By dew point, March lands in the dry band about 100% of days. It rarely turns muggy — the humid and sticky bands barely register.

0%25%50%75%100%151015202531
Dry (%)
1100
2100
3100
4100
5100
6100
7100
8100
9100
10100
11100
12100
13100
14100
15100
16100
17100
18100
19100
20100
21100
22100
23100
24100
25100
26100
27100
28100
29100
30100
31100

Wind in March

Winds average 11 km/h in March.

Across March, daily wind ranges from about 10 km/h on the calmest days to 11 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

051015151015202531
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
111calm
211calm
311calm
411calm
511calm
611calm
711calm
811calm
911calm
1011calm
1111calm
1211calm
1311calm
1411calm
1511calm
1611calm
1711calm
1811calm
1911calm
2011calm
2111calm
2211calm
2311calm
2411calm
2511calm
2611calm
2711calm
2811calm
2910calm
3010calm
3110calm

Sunrise & sunset in March

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 5 h 36 min at the start of March to 14 hours by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 504 minutes over March. Sunrise moves from 9:21 AM to 5:02 AM, and sunset from 3:00 PM to 7:03 PM.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AM151015202531
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
15.69:213:00
26.09:103:11
36.39:003:21
46.78:503:30
57.08:403:40
67.38:313:49
77.68:213:58
87.98:124:06
98.28:034:15
108.57:544:23
118.87:464:31
129.07:374:39
139.37:294:47
149.67:204:55
159.87:125:03
1610.17:045:10
1710.46:555:18
1810.66:475:26
1910.96:395:33
2011.26:315:41
2111.46:235:48
2211.76:155:56
2311.96:076:03
2412.25:596:10
2512.55:516:18
2612.75:436:25
2713.05:356:33
2813.25:266:40
2913.55:186:48
3013.85:106:55
3114.05:027:03

Solar energy in March

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in March, about 0.82 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 0 kWh/m² to a high of 5.97 kWh/m² in June across the year — March's 0.82 kWh/m² falls in the middle.

00.511.522.5151015202531
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
10.2Dim
20.2Dim
30.3Dim
40.3Dim
50.3Dim
60.3Dim
70.4Dim
80.4Dim
90.5Dim
100.5Dim
110.5Dim
120.6Dim
130.6Dim
140.7Dim
150.7Dim
160.8Dim
170.8Dim
180.9Dim
190.9Dim
201.0Dim
211.1Dim
221.1Dim
231.2Dim
241.3Dim
251.3Dim
261.4Dim
271.5Dim
281.6Dim
291.6Dim
301.7Dim
311.8Dim
Planning a trip in March

Is March a good time to visit Longyearbyen?

Our two travel scores rate March for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal).

0.0
Sightseeing
3rd-best month of the year
Beach & pool
never really warm enough

March is a weaker month for outdoor sightseeing in Longyearbyen.

What to pack for Longyearbyen in March

From March's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.

In March, Longyearbyen sees daytime highs around -12°C and nights near -17°C. Pack a warm layer and a heavy coat. Worth having: rain gear. About 8 days see rain.

a warm layera heavy coatrain gear

UV index in Longyearbyen in March

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in March peaks around 0. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Longyearbyen peaks around June 18 at about 2 (moderate) — sun protection is rarely needed. It bottoms out near January 1 at about 0 (low).

The midday index never reaches 3, the level where the WHO starts recommending sun protection.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateLowJun 18UV 2Jan 1UV 0
UV index (midday)Level
Jan0Low
Feb0Low
Mar0Low
Apr1Low
May2Low
Jun2Moderate
Jul2Low
Aug2Low
Sep0Low
Oct0Low
Nov0Low
Dec0Low
Location & terrain

Where is Longyearbyen?

Longyearbyen sits at 78.2°N, 15.6°E, 1 m above sea level, in Svalbard and Jan Mayen. The nearest listed city is Alta, 945 km away.

Topography around Longyearbyen

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Longyearbyen.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Longyearbyen has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 485 m around an average of 113 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,061 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,255 m.

The land around Longyearbyen is covered by water (35%), bare terrain (30%) and moss and lichen (27%) within 3 km, bare terrain (31%), water (29%) and moss and lichen (22%) within 16 km, and snow and ice (30%), water (29%) and bare terrain (26%) within 80 km.

3 km
485 m
16 km
1,061 m
80 km
1,255 m
grasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainsnow and icewaterwetlandmoss and lichen
March weather nearby: Alta 945 km · Tromso 958 km · Tromsdalen 959 km · Harstad 1,048 km · Nikel 1,071 km · Zapolyarnyy 1,077 km · Lofoten 1,111 km · Polyarnyy 1,135 km

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Longyearbyen (78.2233°, 15.6469°, elevation 1 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).