March 2026

[MJO812]

11 hours ago, NEG NAO said:

 

0z lost it

 

Fantasy 

[NEG NAO]

1 hour ago, MJO812 said:

0z lost it

 

Fantasy 

several cold air intrusions are not a fantasy so when cold enough air is present always a chance of some precip/storms popping up -- models will not see it until just prior sometimes this time of year - remember 4/7/03 and 4/6/82 ? And how about this seasons analog winter of 95-96 on April 9-10, 1996 ?

Snow and ice storm, April 7, 2003 - Storm Summary

Snow storm, April 9-10, 1996 - Storm Summary

[MJO812]

3 hours ago, NEG NAO said:

several cold air intrusions are not a fantasy so when cold enough air is present always a chance of some precip/storms popping up -- models will not see it until just prior sometimes this time of year - remember 4/7/03 and 4/6/82 ? And how about this seasons analog winter of 95-96 on April 9-10, 1996 ?

Snow and ice storm, April 7, 2003 - Storm Summary

Snow storm, April 9-10, 1996 - Storm Summary

The Anafront was a fantasy. The cold also since the Euro is way warmer than the gfs going forward.

[snowman19]

3 hours ago, NEG NAO said:

several cold air intrusions are not a fantasy so when cold enough air is present always a chance of some precip/storms popping up -- models will not see it until just prior sometimes this time of year - remember 4/7/03 and 4/6/82 ? And how about this seasons analog winter of 95-96 on April 9-10, 1996 ?

Snow and ice storm, April 7, 2003 - Storm Summary

Snow storm, April 9-10, 1996 - Storm Summary

  

[bluewave]

22 hours ago, snowman19 said:

It would appear that the trend we saw since November of the models getting colder as we get closer in time has finally ended this month. Sunday continues to warm on the models. Last week overperformed too

Yeah, back to our regularly scheduled programming following a rare 4 month hiatus. 
 

 

 

 

[jm1220]

6 hours ago, MJO812 said:

Im not sure. There are photos just like that. 

They got absolutely blasted and the official ob from 2 days ago had 51” on the ground. I believe it. 

[bluewave]

19 minutes ago, jm1220 said:

They got absolutely blasted and the official ob from 2 days ago had 51” on the ground. I believe it. 

The lake effect zones usually do pretty well unless there is a strong El Niño.
 

 

[jm1220]

5 minutes ago, bluewave said:

The lake effect zones usually do pretty well unless there is a strong El Niño.
 

 

Not a typical La Niña snow distribution. You’d at least expect the NW and N Rockies to do very well and better in the upper Midwest. NNE still has a ways to go but they usually do very well also in a Nina. 

[bluewave]

7 minutes ago, jm1220 said:

Not a typical La Niña snow distribution. You’d at least expect the NW and N Rockies to do very well a better in the upper Midwest. NNE still has a ways to go but they usually do very well also in a Nina. 

Yeah, the record ridge covering the West into Central states completely overpowered the pattern with warm and dry for much of the country. So we have moved past the usual old school La Niña correlations. This is now the age of the super 500 mb ridge that is going to cancel your winter in the locations where it gets stuck stuck in place.

 

Climatologist49

 

‪@climatologist49.bsky.social‬

 

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A remarkable 42% of the Contiguous U.S. had record Dec-Feb 500 mb heights.

 

10:41 PM · Mar 8, 2026

 

[EastonSN+]

21 hours ago, MJO812 said:

Not even an inch of snow for March.  Terrible ending to a great winter.

Cant complain since we had winter from December right through end of February.

I found it interesting that only 4 winters since 1970 had 5 or more inches of snow for both December and March. 

Its usually one or the other except for extreme winters like 93/94, 95/96, 02/03 and 17/18.

Even the great winter of 13/14 was a shutout in March.

[EastonSN+]

19 hours ago, Brian5671 said:

I thinkthe last time I had more than an inch of snow here in March was 2019

We got 1 to 3 March 9, 2022.

Its every other decade. 2030 through 2039 will likely be similar to 2010 through 2019 which was a great decade for March snow).

[bluewave]

22 hours ago, MJO812 said:

Not even an inch of snow for March.  Terrible ending to a great winter.

Cant complain since we had winter from December right through end of February.

Reversion to the March 2020s snowfall mean following all the great 2010s Marches. 
 

March Monthly 2020s Total Snowfall for NY CITY CENTRAL PARK, NY
Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending.

Mean	0.1	0.1
2026	T	T
2025	0.0	0.0
2024	T	T
2023	0.1	0.1
2022	0.4	0.4
2021	T	T
2020	T	T

 

March 2010s Monthly Total Snowfall for NY CITY CENTRAL PARK, NY
Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending.

Mean	6.0	6.0
2019	10.4	10.4
2018	11.6	11.6
2017	9.7	9.7
2016	0.9	0.9
2015	18.6	18.6
2014	0.1	0.1
2013	7.3	7.3
2012	0.0	0.0
2011	1.0	1.0
2010	T	T

[IrishRob17]

1 hour ago, jm1220 said:

They got absolutely blasted and the official ob from 2 days ago had 51” on the ground. I believe it. 

Marquette had a very solid 18" pack a week ago before getting that dump, there are massive piles there for sure. Cool videos too of highway crews working on opening up the country roads.

[winterwarlock]

18 hours ago, jm1220 said:

Yep Sunday could be a sneaky warm day away from the south shore. 

A nice unexpected unadvertised  spring stretch coming up Friday through Sunday 

[SACRUS]

34 / 21 clouds with some breaks of sun.  About 5-10 degrees warmer than what should wind up as the coldest day - yesterday of the next week or much longer.  50s and low 60s Fri - Sat and pending on sun breaking out, Sunday could push mid - upper 60s or more in the warmest spots.  back and forth the next 7 - 10 days hovering near to slightly above normal for the period through 3/26.   Beyond there looks to nudge warmer as we close the month.

 

 

[SACRUS]

Records:

Highs:

EWR: 77 (2012)
NYC:  76 (1918)
LGA: 72 (2012)
JFK: 69 (2010)
 

 

 

Lows:

EWR: 8 (1967) * coldest reading post Mar 15th on record at Newark
NYC: 8 (1967)
LGA: 10 (1967)
JFK: 7 (1967)

Historical:

 

1907: The highest March temperature in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was set when the temperature soared to 97 degrees. Dodge City, Kansas, also set a March record with 98 degrees. Denver, Colorado, set a daily record high of 81 degrees.

1935 - Suffocating dust storms occurred frequently in southeastern Colorado between the 12th and the 25th of the month. Six people died, and many livestock starved or suffocated. Up to six feet of dust covered the ground. Schools were closed, and many rural homes were deserted by tenants. (The Weather Channel)

1948: An estimated F4 tornado moved through Fosterburg, Bunker Hill, and Gillespie, Illinois, killing 33 people and injuring 449 others. 2,000 buildings in Bunker Hill were damaged or destroyed. The total damage was $3.6 million.

1950 - Timberline Lodge reported 246 inches of snow on the ground, a record for the state of Oregon. (The Weather Channel)

1956 - The second heavy snowstorm in just three days hit Boston. Nearby Blue Hill received 19.5 inches contributing to their snowiest March of record. (David Ludlum)

1958: The storm began as a weak area of low-pressure just east of Norfolk, Virginia or a coastal storm. Naked Creek in Rockingham Co., Virginia had a total of 3.0 inches and Dale Enterprise in Rockingham Co., Virginia had but a trace of snow. Much of the precipitation that fell in the Washington area as rain but finally during the late evening of the 19th the precipitation changed over to heavy snow. The dense flakes fell rapidly through the rest of the night and into the morning of the 20th and by noon, the worst of the storm was over, but periods of light to moderate snow continued on into the morning of the 21st. The interesting feature of this storm was extreme amount of water content. National Airport recorded a water content of 3.75 inches and some stations reported over 5 inches of liquid content. The snowfall total at National Airport was only 4.8 inches of wet snow. Arlington had a foot of snow. In the Maryland suburbs, 9 inches fell in Greenbelt; 11 inches in Silver Spring; 15 inches fell at Fort Meade; and 16 inches fell at Bethesda. Much of the Upper Montgomery County and Howard County received over 20 inches and Mt. Airy, Maryland had 33 inches of snow. Morgantown total of 50" is not a fluke...Morgantown, at 750' in elevation at the borders of Chester, Berks, and Lancaster Counties in Southeast Pennsylvania, set a record for snowfall in the immediate area. This area saw significant snowfall from a low pressure center that was cut off from the main steering pattern in the atmosphere, with snows continuing to pile up across a narrow band along the ridge tops. Southeast Pennsylvania and across the Poconos in Northeast Pennsylvania, where Stroudsburg received 35.4" of snow from the storm. Weather Map for March 20, 1958(Ref. NWS) (Ref. (p. 69-70 Washington Weather Book 2002 by Ambrose, Henry, Weiss) Ref. (NWS Ranking for Storms between 1956 and 2011) This is the 31st Worst Snowstorm

1959: A major storm dumped heavy snowfall of 7.7 inches at Stapleton Airport in Denver, CO where north winds gusting to 45 mph caused blowing and drifting. Many highways were blocked with damage to telephone lines along the South Platte River. The storm started a rain and changed to heavy wet snow which froze on the lines causing them to break. The storm was responsible for two deaths across eastern Colorado. (Ref. Wilson Wx. History)

1969: High winds buffeted the front range foothills in eastern Colorado causing damage in Boulder and Jefferson counties. A freight train was derailed near the entrance to a canyon 20 miles west of Denver when some empty cars were caught on a curve by a wind gust. Two small planes were heavily damaged at the Jefferson County airport. Winds gusted to 105 mph at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, 62 mph in downtown Boulder, and 80-90 mph at the Boulder airport. Stapleton Airport in Denver reported a gust to 49 mph. (Ref. Wilson Wx. History)

1987 - A storm in the western U.S. produced rain and snow from the northern and central Pacific coast to the northern and central Rockies. Heavier snowfall totals included 13 inches at Clear Creek UT, 12 inches at Snow Camp CA and Glacier Park MT, and 10 inches at Kayenta AZ. Wind gusts reached 54 mph at Winslow AZ. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

1988 - Seven cities in California and Nevada reported record high temperatures for the date as readings soared into the 80s and lower 90s. Los Angeles CA reported a record high of 89 degrees. Five cities in south central Texas reported record lows, including El Paso, with a reading of 22 degrees. (The National Weather Summary)

1989 - Six cities reported new record low temperatures for the date as cold arctic air settled into the Upper Midwest for Palm Sunday, including Marquette MI with a reading of 11 degrees below zero. (The National Weather Summary)

1990 - Rather wintry weather in the eastern U.S. replaced the 80 degree weather of the previous week. Freezing temperatures were reported in northern sections of the Gulf Coast States, and snow began to whiten the Northern and Central Appalachians. Up to eight inches of snow was reported in western Virginia. (Storm Data) (The National Weather Summary)

2003 - Denver digs out from the second-biggest snowstorm in the city's history. Almost two and a half feet of wet snow over 36 hours shuts down the city. The month ends as Denver's snowiest March on record.

2003: One of the worst blizzards since records began in 1872, struck the Denver metro area and Colorado's Front Range started with a vengeance. Denver International Airport was closed, stranding about 4,000 travelers. The weight of the snow caused a 40-foot gash in a portion of the roof, forcing the evacuation of that section of the main terminal building. Winds gusting to 40 mph produced drifts six feet high in places around the city. Snowfall in foothills was even more impressive. The heavy wet snow caused numerous roofs of homes and businesses to collapse. The estimated cost of property damage alone, not including large commercial buildings, was $93 million, making it the most costly snowstorm on record for the area. In Denver alone, at least 258 structures were damaged. Up to 135,000 people lost power during the storm, and it took several days for power to be restored. Mayor Wellington Webb of Denver said, "This is the storm of the century, a backbreaker, a record-breaker, a roof breaker." Avalanches in the mountains and foothills closed many roads, including Interstate 70, stranding hundreds of skiers and travelers. The Eldora Ski area 270 skiers were stranded when an avalanche closed the main access road. After the storm, a military helicopter had to deliver food to the resort until the road could be cleared. Two people died in Aurora from heart attacks after shoveling the heavy wet snow. The National Guard sent 40 soldiers and 20 heavy-duty vehicles to rescue stranded travelers along a section of I-70. The storm made March 2003 the snowiest March on record, the fourth snowiest month on record, and the fifth wettest March on record. The total of 22.9 inches is the most significant 24-hour total in March. The storm also broke 19 consecutive months of below-average precipitation for Denver.  The 31.8 inches of snow was recorded at the former Stapleton Airport in Denver for its second-greatest snowstorm on record (the greatest was 37.5 inches on 12/4-12/5/1913) with up to three feet in other areas in and around the city and more than seven feet in the foothills. Higher amounts included: Fritz Peak: 87.5 inches, Rollinsville: 87.5 inches, Canin Creek: 83 inches, Near Bergen Park: 74 inches, Northwest of Evergreen: 73 inches, Cola Creek Canyon: 72 inches, Georgetown: 70 inches, Jamestown: 63 inches, Near Blackhawk: 60 inches, Eldora Ski Area: 55 inches, Ken Caryl Ranch: 46.6 inches, Aurora: 40 inches, Centennial: 38 inches, Buckley AFB: 37 inches, Southwest Denver: 35 inches, Louisville: 34 inches, Arvada: 32 inches, Broomfield: 31 inches, Westminster: 31 inches and Boulder: 22.5 inches. This storm was the result of a very moist intense slow-moving Pacific system that tracked across the four corners and into southeastern Colorado, which allowed a deep easterly upslope to form among the front-range.

2012: Chicago-O'Hare • This was the sixth consecutive day the record high was at least tied. (Ref. NWS)

[PhiEaglesfan712]

1 hour ago, EastonSN+ said:

Even the great winter of 13/14 was a shutout in March.

Not in all areas. Philly and the mid-Atlantic got some good snow, and even the areas that got shut out of snow were still well below average temperaturewise.

If you want a shutout March, look at 09/10. Winter just suddenly stopped once the calendar flipped to March 1. The entire spring and summer was well above average.

[Brian5671]

12 minutes ago, PhiEaglesfan712 said:

Not in all areas. Philly and the mid-Atlantic got some good snow, and even the areas that got shut out of snow were still well below average temperaturewise.

If you want a shutout March, look at 09/10. Winter just suddenly stopped once the calendar flipped to March 1. The entire spring and summer was well above average.

The cold air disappeared that year--storms raged all of march was too bad some areas could have put up another 20-30 inches of snow had it been colder

[SACRUS]

 

Heat out west So Cal

 

[SACRUS]

 

And LA

 

[snowman19]

2 hours ago, jm1220 said:

Not a typical La Niña snow distribution. You’d at least expect the NW and N Rockies to do very well and better in the upper Midwest. NNE still has a ways to go but they usually do very well also in a Nina. 

 

25 minutes ago, Brian5671 said:

The cold air disappeared that year--storms raged all of march was too bad some areas could have put up another 20-30 inches of snow had it been colder

I remember that well. The hype from JB in mid-late February was off the charts that winter. He was calling for a record-breaking cold and snowy March in the east, “March Madness!” and was using 1888, 1958, 1960 and 1993 as the analogs

[Brian5671]

2 minutes ago, snowman19 said:

 

I remember that well. The hype from JB in mid-late February was off the charts that winter. He was calling for a record-breaking cold and snowy March in the east, “March Madness!” and was using 1888, 1958, 1960 and 1993 as the analogs

The storms did come just not cold enough-we had the big mid March windstorm here which knocked out power to some for 5 days.    And a 2 day rainstorm at the end of the month.     1888 LOL-that's a good one.

[jm1220]

The sun is as high in the sky now as late September. It’ll try to warm up when it can. I think most of us are in the 70s on Sunday. Of course that doesn’t apply to the south shore barrier islands that might be lucky to hit 50. Springs suck down there. 

[MJO812]

2 hours ago, EastonSN+ said:

I found it interesting that only 4 winters since 1970 had 5 or more inches of snow for both December and March. 

Its usually one or the other except for extreme winters like 93/94, 95/96, 02/03 and 17/18.

Even the great winter of 13/14 was a shutout in March.

And this was an analog by many for this winter. Interesting. 

[MJO812]

8 hours ago, NEG NAO said:

several cold air intrusions are not a fantasy so when cold enough air is present always a chance of some precip/storms popping up -- models will not see it until just prior sometimes this time of year - remember 4/7/03 and 4/6/82 ? And how about this seasons analog winter of 95-96 on April 9-10, 1996 ?

Snow and ice storm, April 7, 2003 - Storm Summary

Snow storm, April 9-10, 1996 - Storm Summary

Sorry buddy but this winter is done. I am usually the last one to hold out hope but there is no hope left.

Nothing is pointing to snow and sustained cold coming.