Abstract:The atmospheric general circulation of March 2016 is characterized by the following：The polar vortex was in a dipole pattern with its main body located over the Western Hemisphere. A weak ridge spanned from Lake Balkhash to East China, and the degree of meridionality was lower than normal. The ridge of the Western Pacific Subtropical High was located more southward than normal, and there was a subtropical high belt spaning from Western Pacific all the way to African continent. The Bay of Bengal trough was weaker than normal while the Tibetan plateau trough was stronger. The monthly mean precipitation over China was 29.3 mm, close to its normal value (29.5 mm). The monthly mean temperature was 6.1℃, 2 ℃ higher than normal, ranked the third in record. One cold air process and two rainfall processes occurred in March. Guangdong Province declared the beginning of flood season on 21 March, 16 days earlier than normal. Two fog haze processes occurred in the central and eastern part of China, and three sand dust processes in northern China. Drought emerged in the provinces of Shanxi， Shaanxi and Henan. Thunderstorm, gust, hail and short time severe precipitation hit the vast areas of the southwest, the central and southern part of the south to Yangtze River, and the central and eastern part of South China.