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Climate · Ottawa

Ottawa in March

Cold and damp, as the days lengthen.

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years

March in Ottawa is cold: highs near 39°F, lows near 19°F. Rain or snow falls on about two days a week, and the days lengthen by 1 hour 31 minutes from the first week to the last.March in Ottawa is cold: highs near 4°C, lows near -7°C. Rain or snow falls on about two days a week, and the days lengthen by 1 hour 31 minutes from the first week to the last.

High
39°F4°Caverage
Low
19°F-7°Caverage
Wet days
2a week · 35% of days
Daylight
11h 50mon average

Is March a good time to visit Ottawa?

March sits outside Ottawa's best months, which run in two parts: June, or August to September. Expect cold days and rain or snow on about two days a week.

How we judge it: every month is scored on how close its typical high comes to the range from 70°F to 80°F, how mild its nights are, and how rarely it rains. The best months are the run of months that scores best.How we judge it: every month is scored on how close its typical high comes to the range from 21°C to 27°C, how mild its nights are, and how rarely it rains. The best months are the run of months that scores best.

How March sits in the year

week by week

Temperature

Highs near 39°F in March, against 28°F to 82°F through the year.Highs near 4°C in March, against -2°C to 28°C through the year.

Chance of a wet day

35% of days in March, against 32% to 43% through the year.

Cloud cover

63% cover in March, against 42% to 70% through the year.

Daylight

11h 50m in March, against 8h 46m to 15h 36m through the year.

Week by week, lightly smoothed, with March shaded. The olive line marks the best months. Hover or tap a week for its figures.

Either side

  1. February29°-2°low 9°low -13°3 wet days a weekRain on about three days a week.
  2. March39°4°low 19°low -7°2 wet days a weekRain on about two days a week.
  3. April54°12°low 33°low 1°3 wet days a weekRain on about three days a week.

Where Ottawa sits, in March

America/Toronto
this place
typical high in March 40°F4°C95°F35°C
Sunrise, mid-March
7:18 AMsets 7:07 PM
Above the sea
70 mlow-lying
Latitude
45.4°Nnorthern hemisphere
Nearest of ours
Mont-Tremblant115 km north-east

The land around Ottawa, shaded by its typical high in March, the planning map's own layer. Hover the map for the figure at that spot; tap it on a phone. Clock times are local, for the 15th.

Elsewhere in Canada in March

high · low · wet days
See March on the planning mapThe whole year in Ottawa

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years (1995–2024), from the 11 km grid square nearest Ottawa. Temperatures are adjusted against 66 weather stations: daytime highs read about 3.1°F cold in the source data and are raised to match.Temperatures are adjusted against 66 weather stations: daytime highs read about 1.7°C cold in the source data and are raised to match. Daylight is calculated from latitude. Charts are lightly smoothed week to week; the figures in the table are not. Source: Copernicus ERA5-Land reanalysis; cloud cover from NASA's MERRA-2 reanalysis, on a coarser grid of about 50 km. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026; neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of it. These are averages, not a forecast.

Daylight is calculated from latitude. Charts are lightly smoothed week to week; the figures in the table are not.

Source: Copernicus ERA5-Land reanalysis; cloud cover from NASA's MERRA-2 reanalysis, on a coarser grid of about 50 km. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026; neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of it. These are averages, not a forecast.