Atwater weather in March

In March, Atwater sees average daytime highs of 68°F and overnight lows near 48°F, with 2.8 in of rain across 7.7 wet days and about 11.7 hours of daylight. It is the 8th-warmest and 4th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs climb over the month, from about 65°F in the first days to 70°F by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 42% of the time in March, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 11 h 06 min at the start of March to 12 h 18 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, March is Atwater's 9th-clearest and 7th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Atwater's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 68°; 8th warmest
Overnight low: 48°; 5th coldest
Rainfall: 2.8 in; 7.7 wet days
Daylight: 11 h 42 min; 6:21 AM – 6:03 PM
Cloud cover: 50%; 9th clearest
Wind: 5 mph; 7th windiest
Solar energy: 4.96 kWh/m²
Travel score: 6.8; out of 10

Atwater is city in Merced County, California, United States.

Density: 1,852/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1922

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

← February Atwater year-round climate April →Best places to visit in March

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Temperature in March

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Highs climb over the month, from about 65°F in the first days to 70°F by the end.

A typical March day in Atwater reaches about 68°F in the afternoon and slips back to 48°F overnight — a 21°F spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 59°F and 78°F. Set against its neighbours, March runs about 6°F warmer than February and about 7°F cooler than April.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Avg high (°F)	64	65	65	65	66	66	66	67	67	67	67	68	68	68	68	69	69	69	69	69	69	69	69	70	70	70	70	70	70	71	71
Avg low (°F)	46	46	46	46	46	46	47	47	47	47	47	47	48	48	48	48	48	48	48	49	49	49	49	49	49	49	49	49	49	49	49

	Avg high (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	64	46
2	65	46
3	65	46
4	65	46
5	66	46
6	66	46
7	66	47
8	67	47
9	67	47
10	67	47
11	67	47
12	68	47
13	68	48
14	68	48
15	68	48
16	69	48
17	69	48
18	69	48
19	69	48
20	69	49
21	69	49
22	69	49
23	69	49
24	70	49
25	70	49
26	70	49
27	70	49
28	70	49
29	70	49
30	71	49
31	71	49

How March really feels in Atwater

Once humidity and wind are folded in, March averages 0 days that feel above 90°F and 0 that feel at or below 32°F — the comfort signal a plain temperature reading hides.

Days feeling ≥ 90°F

heat index over the day's high

Days feeling ≤ 32°F

wind chill below the day's low

March sits comfortably in between — no days that feel dangerously hot or drop to a hard freeze once humidity and wind are folded in.

Atwater weather by month

How March compares with the rest of the year at a glance. March is the 8th-warmest and 4th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°F)	Rainfall (inches)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	58° / 42°	3.5	8.1	9.7	4.7
Feb	63° / 44°	3.1	8.4	10.6	5.7
Mar	68° / 48°	2.8	7.7	11.7	6.8
Apr	75° / 52°	1.2	4.7	12.9	7.9
May	83° / 58°	0.7	2.8	14	7.1
Jun	92° / 64°	0.1	0.6	14.5	4.6
Jul	97° / 68°	0.0	0.2	14.3	2.8
Aug	95° / 67°	0.0	0.1	13.4	3.3
Sep	90° / 63°	0.1	0.4	12.3	5.4
Oct	79° / 55°	0.8	2.3	11	8.3
Nov	67° / 46°	1.5	4.8	10	7.1
Dec	58° / 41°	3.0	7.4	9.5	4.7

Cloud cover in March

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 42% of the time in March.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 14% of March, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 44%. Skies tend to open up as the month goes on.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Clearer (%)	54	54	54	55	55	55	54	54	55	55	54	54	54	54	53	54	54	54	54	54	55	56	56	57	58	59	60	61	62	62	62
Cloudier (%)	46	46	46	45	45	45	46	46	45	45	46	46	46	46	47	46	46	46	46	46	45	44	44	43	42	41	40	39	38	38	38

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	54	46
2	54	46
3	54	46
4	55	45
5	55	45
6	55	45
7	54	46
8	54	46
9	55	45
10	55	45
11	54	46
12	54	46
13	54	46
14	54	46
15	53	47
16	54	46
17	54	46
18	54	46
19	54	46
20	54	46
21	55	45
22	56	44
23	56	44
24	57	43
25	58	42
26	59	41
27	60	40
28	61	39
29	62	38
30	62	38
31	62	38

Chance of precipitation in March

Any precipitation

Atwater gets around 2.8 in of rain over 7.7 wet days in March. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 24% and peaks near 28% on the wettest days.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Rain chance (%)	28	28	27	27	26	26	25	25	24	24	23	23	23	23	23	24	24	24	25	25	25	25	25	25	24	24	23	23	22	22	21

	Rain chance (%)
1	28
2	28
3	27
4	27
5	26
6	26
7	25
8	25
9	24
10	24
11	23
12	23
13	23
14	23
15	23
16	24
17	24
18	24
19	25
20	25
21	25
22	25
23	25
24	25
25	24
26	24
27	23
28	23
29	22
30	22
31	21

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 98% of days. It rarely turns muggy — the humid and sticky bands barely register.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Dry (%)	99	99	99	99	98	98	98	98	98	97	97	97	97	97	97	97	97	97	97	97	97	97	97	98	98	98	98	98	98	98	98
Comfortable (%)	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	99	1
2	99	1
3	99	1
4	99	1
5	98	2
6	98	2
7	98	2
8	98	2
9	98	2
10	97	3
11	97	3
12	97	3
13	97	3
14	97	3
15	97	3
16	97	3
17	97	3
18	97	3
19	97	3
20	97	3
21	97	3
22	97	3
23	97	3
24	98	2
25	98	2
26	98	2
27	98	2
28	98	2
29	98	2
30	98	2
31	98	2

Wind in March

Winds average 5 mph in March.

Across March, daily wind ranges from about 5 mph on the calmest days to 5 mph at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Wind speed (mph)	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5
Feels	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm

	Wind speed (mph)	Feels
1	5	calm
2	5	calm
3	5	calm
4	5	calm
5	5	calm
6	5	calm
7	5	calm
8	5	calm
9	5	calm
10	5	calm
11	5	calm
12	5	calm
13	5	calm
14	5	calm
15	5	calm
16	5	calm
17	5	calm
18	5	calm
19	5	calm
20	5	calm
21	5	calm
22	5	calm
23	5	calm
24	5	calm
25	5	calm
26	5	calm
27	5	calm
28	5	calm
29	5	calm
30	5	calm
31	5	calm

Sunrise & sunset in March

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 11 h 06 min at the start of March to 12 h 18 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 72 minutes over March. Sunrise moves from 6:43 AM to 5:58 AM, and sunset from 5:49 PM to 6:17 PM.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Daylight (h)	11.1	11.1	11.2	11.2	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.4	11.4	11.5	11.5	11.5	11.6	11.6	11.7	11.7	11.7	11.8	11.8	11.9	11.9	11.9	12.0	12.0	12.1	12.1	12.2	12.2	12.2	12.3	12.3
Sunrise (AM)	6:43	6:41	6:40	6:39	6:37	6:36	6:34	6:33	6:31	6:30	6:28	6:27	6:26	6:24	6:23	6:21	6:19	6:18	6:16	6:15	6:13	6:12	6:10	6:09	6:07	6:06	6:04	6:03	6:01	5:59	5:58
Sunset (PM)	5:49	5:50	5:51	5:52	5:53	5:54	5:55	5:56	5:57	5:57	5:58	5:59	6:00	6:01	6:02	6:03	6:04	6:05	6:06	6:07	6:08	6:09	6:10	6:11	6:11	6:12	6:13	6:14	6:15	6:16	6:17

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	11.1	6:43	5:49
2	11.1	6:41	5:50
3	11.2	6:40	5:51
4	11.2	6:39	5:52
5	11.3	6:37	5:53
6	11.3	6:36	5:54
7	11.3	6:34	5:55
8	11.4	6:33	5:56
9	11.4	6:31	5:57
10	11.5	6:30	5:57
11	11.5	6:28	5:58
12	11.5	6:27	5:59
13	11.6	6:26	6:00
14	11.6	6:24	6:01
15	11.7	6:23	6:02
16	11.7	6:21	6:03
17	11.7	6:19	6:04
18	11.8	6:18	6:05
19	11.8	6:16	6:06
20	11.9	6:15	6:07
21	11.9	6:13	6:08
22	11.9	6:12	6:09
23	12.0	6:10	6:10
24	12.0	6:09	6:11
25	12.1	6:07	6:11
26	12.1	6:06	6:12
27	12.2	6:04	6:13
28	12.2	6:03	6:14
29	12.2	6:01	6:15
30	12.3	5:59	6:16
31	12.3	5:58	6:17

Solar energy in March

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in March, about 4.96 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 2.4 kWh/m² to a high of 8.29 kWh/m² in June across the year — March's 4.96 kWh/m² falls in the middle.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Solar energy (kWh/m²)	4.2	4.2	4.3	4.3	4.4	4.4	4.5	4.6	4.6	4.7	4.7	4.8	4.8	4.9	4.9	5.0	5.0	5.1	5.1	5.2	5.2	5.3	5.3	5.4	5.4	5.5	5.5	5.6	5.7	5.7	5.8
Level	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	4.2	Bright
2	4.2	Bright
3	4.3	Bright
4	4.3	Bright
5	4.4	Bright
6	4.4	Bright
7	4.5	Bright
8	4.6	Bright
9	4.6	Bright
10	4.7	Bright
11	4.7	Bright
12	4.8	Bright
13	4.8	Bright
14	4.9	Bright
15	4.9	Bright
16	5.0	Bright
17	5.0	Bright
18	5.1	Bright
19	5.1	Bright
20	5.2	Bright
21	5.2	Bright
22	5.3	Bright
23	5.3	Bright
24	5.4	Bright
25	5.4	Bright
26	5.5	Bright
27	5.5	Bright
28	5.6	Bright
29	5.7	Bright
30	5.7	Bright
31	5.8	Bright

Planning a trip in March

Is March a good time to visit Atwater?

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

6.8

Sightseeing

5th-best month of the year

3.6

Beach & pool

8th-best month of the year

March is a reasonable time to visit Atwater for sightseeing.

What to pack for Atwater in March

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

In March, Atwater sees daytime highs around 68°F and nights near 48°F. Worth packing: sun protection. About 8 days see rain.

sun protection

UV index in Atwater in March

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in March peaks around 4 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Atwater peaks around June 19 at about 10 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 14 at about 2 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 9 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	2	4	4	7	8	10	10	10	7	5	2	2
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	High	Very high	Extreme	Very high	Very high	High	High	Moderate	Moderate

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	2	Moderate
Feb	4	Moderate
Mar	4	Moderate
Apr	7	High
May	8	Very high
Jun	10	Extreme
Jul	10	Very high
Aug	10	Very high
Sep	7	High
Oct	5	High
Nov	2	Moderate
Dec	2	Moderate

Air quality in Atwater in March

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see where March falls, not just the annual average.

Air quality in Atwater is worst in August — around 29 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 3.6× the cleanest month (June, 8 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	13	14	14	11	9	8	15	29	22	17	15	12
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Good	Good	Good	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	13	Moderate
Feb	14	Moderate
Mar	14	Moderate
Apr	11	Good
May	9	Good
Jun	8	Good
Jul	15	Moderate
Aug	29	Moderate
Sep	22	Moderate
Oct	17	Moderate
Nov	15	Moderate
Dec	12	Moderate

Location & terrain

Where is Atwater?

Atwater sits at 37.3°N, 120.6°W, 151 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Merced, 7.5 mi away.

Topography around Atwater

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 2, 10 and 50 miles of Atwater.

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Atwater has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 56 ft around an average of 154 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 341 ft; within 50 miles, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 6,919 ft.

The land around Atwater is covered by artificial surfaces (39%), cropland (23%) and trees (22%) within 2 miles, cropland (32%), trees (29%) and grassland (28%) within 10 miles, and grassland (47%) and trees (30%) within 50 miles.

2 miles

56 ft

artificial surfaces 39%

10 miles

341 ft

cropland 32%

50 miles

6,919 ft

grassland 47%

treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

← February Atwater year-round climate April →Best places to visit in March

March weather nearby: Merced 7.5 mi · Turlock 17 mi · Los Banos 24 mi · Chowchilla 25 mi · Ceres 25 mi · Modesto 29 mi · Patterson 30 mi · Oakdale 32 mi

United States travel facts

Power plugs: Type A / B; 120 V · 60 Hz
Prices: ≈ 100% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $90,027; 2025
Happiness: 6.8 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 98%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 5.8; per 100k, 2023
Road deaths: 12.7; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: High; World Bank
Religion

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Atwater (37.3477°, -120.6091°, elevation 151 ft), 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. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).

	Avg high (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	64	46
2	65	46
3	65	46
4	65	46
5	66	46
6	66	46
7	66	47
8	67	47
9	67	47
10	67	47
11	67	47
12	68	47
13	68	48
14	68	48
15	68	48
16	69	48
17	69	48
18	69	48
19	69	48
20	69	49
21	69	49
22	69	49
23	69	49
24	70	49
25	70	49
26	70	49
27	70	49
28	70	49
29	70	49
30	71	49
31	71	49

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	54	46
2	54	46
3	54	46
4	55	45
5	55	45
6	55	45
7	54	46
8	54	46
9	55	45
10	55	45
11	54	46
12	54	46
13	54	46
14	54	46
15	53	47
16	54	46
17	54	46
18	54	46
19	54	46
20	54	46
21	55	45
22	56	44
23	56	44
24	57	43
25	58	42
26	59	41
27	60	40
28	61	39
29	62	38
30	62	38
31	62	38

	Rain chance (%)
1	28
2	28
3	27
4	27
5	26
6	26
7	25
8	25
9	24
10	24
11	23
12	23
13	23
14	23
15	23
16	24
17	24
18	24
19	25
20	25
21	25
22	25
23	25
24	25
25	24
26	24
27	23
28	23
29	22
30	22
31	21

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	99	1
2	99	1
3	99	1
4	99	1
5	98	2
6	98	2
7	98	2
8	98	2
9	98	2
10	97	3
11	97	3
12	97	3
13	97	3
14	97	3
15	97	3
16	97	3
17	97	3
18	97	3
19	97	3
20	97	3
21	97	3
22	97	3
23	97	3
24	98	2
25	98	2
26	98	2
27	98	2
28	98	2
29	98	2
30	98	2
31	98	2

	Avg high (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	64	46
2	65	46
3	65	46
4	65	46
5	66	46
6	66	46
7	66	47
8	67	47
9	67	47
10	67	47
11	67	47
12	68	47
13	68	48
14	68	48
15	68	48
16	69	48
17	69	48
18	69	48
19	69	48
20	69	49
21	69	49
22	69	49
23	69	49
24	70	49
25	70	49
26	70	49
27	70	49
28	70	49
29	70	49
30	71	49
31	71	49

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	54	46
2	54	46
3	54	46
4	55	45
5	55	45
6	55	45
7	54	46
8	54	46
9	55	45
10	55	45
11	54	46
12	54	46
13	54	46
14	54	46
15	53	47
16	54	46
17	54	46
18	54	46
19	54	46
20	54	46
21	55	45
22	56	44
23	56	44
24	57	43
25	58	42
26	59	41
27	60	40
28	61	39
29	62	38
30	62	38
31	62	38

	Rain chance (%)
1	28
2	28
3	27
4	27
5	26
6	26
7	25
8	25
9	24
10	24
11	23
12	23
13	23
14	23
15	23
16	24
17	24
18	24
19	25
20	25
21	25
22	25
23	25
24	25
25	24
26	24
27	23
28	23
29	22
30	22
31	21

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	99	1
2	99	1
3	99	1
4	99	1
5	98	2
6	98	2
7	98	2
8	98	2
9	98	2
10	97	3
11	97	3
12	97	3
13	97	3
14	97	3
15	97	3
16	97	3
17	97	3
18	97	3
19	97	3
20	97	3
21	97	3
22	97	3
23	97	3
24	98	2
25	98	2
26	98	2
27	98	2
28	98	2
29	98	2
30	98	2
31	98	2

	Avg high (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	64	46
2	65	46
3	65	46
4	65	46
5	66	46
6	66	46
7	66	47
8	67	47
9	67	47
10	67	47
11	67	47
12	68	47
13	68	48
14	68	48
15	68	48
16	69	48
17	69	48
18	69	48
19	69	48
20	69	49
21	69	49
22	69	49
23	69	49
24	70	49
25	70	49
26	70	49
27	70	49
28	70	49
29	70	49
30	71	49
31	71	49

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	54	46
2	54	46
3	54	46
4	55	45
5	55	45
6	55	45
7	54	46
8	54	46
9	55	45
10	55	45
11	54	46
12	54	46
13	54	46
14	54	46
15	53	47
16	54	46
17	54	46
18	54	46
19	54	46
20	54	46
21	55	45
22	56	44
23	56	44
24	57	43
25	58	42
26	59	41
27	60	40
28	61	39
29	62	38
30	62	38
31	62	38

	Rain chance (%)
1	28
2	28
3	27
4	27
5	26
6	26
7	25
8	25
9	24
10	24
11	23
12	23
13	23
14	23
15	23
16	24
17	24
18	24
19	25
20	25
21	25
22	25
23	25
24	25
25	24
26	24
27	23
28	23
29	22
30	22
31	21

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	99	1
2	99	1
3	99	1
4	99	1
5	98	2
6	98	2
7	98	2
8	98	2
9	98	2
10	97	3
11	97	3
12	97	3
13	97	3
14	97	3
15	97	3
16	97	3
17	97	3
18	97	3
19	97	3
20	97	3
21	97	3
22	97	3
23	97	3
24	98	2
25	98	2
26	98	2
27	98	2
28	98	2
29	98	2
30	98	2
31	98	2