Are you ready for spring?
Although we did have a visit from the Polar Vortex along with a good amount of rain, snow, sleet and a bit of freezing rain, and yes, even a few nice sunny mild days; however, I think most folks are ready for the return of spring weather on a more consistent basis. The winter months just end up with too many cloudy dreary days and too little in the way of sunshine.
On the calendar, spring does not occur until March 20, but from a meteorological standpoint, spring is more aligned to the months of March, April and May and winter more in line with December, January and February. March can produce some big snows and some very cold temperatures, but most of the time any snows and real cold weather do not stay around and are quickly replaced with some milder weather from the Gulf of Mexico.
On the first day of March, the sun rises at 6:53 a.m. and sets at 6:10 p.m. By month蘑菇视频 end, it rises at 6:05 a.m. and sets at 6:42 p.m. This additional daylight produces more sunshine and this starts the temperatures rising from a high of 46 degrees on the first of the month to a high of 58 degrees by month蘑菇视频 end. Mornings also start to warm, rising from 24 degrees to 36 degrees. Zero degree weather is possible until mid-month and has not been recorded after the March 16. The coldest March temperature occurred during the Blizzard of 1993 when temperatures in the area fell to -3 degrees on the March 15 and -2 degrees on the March 16.
That famous storm wrecked havoc across most of the eastern United States with snow accumulating in large amounts from the Gulf Coast all the way to Maine. The mountains of North Carolina received 54 inches of snow from this storm. Our region received from 14 to 25 inches and the entire area came to a standstill. Major roads and airports were closed for days until the warming March sunshine and road crews were able to get ahead of the storm.
Snowfall is possible on any given March day; however, snows quickly melt off with our warming sun. Average snowfall for the month is 8 inches.
March precipitation averages 3.76 inches with eight days receiving a tenth of an inch or more. The mountain area receives an average of 4.69 inches for March. Storm patterns begin their change in March and we experience an increase in possible sunshine to 43 percent up from February at 36 percent and January at just 32 percent.
Temperatures in the 70s and even 80s are possible on any given day. The record for March is 88 degrees on March 25, 1929. Sometimes March can include a welcome heat wave as happened just a few years ago in 2012. Between March 13 and March 23, we experienced 11 days in a row with temperatures in the 70s and 80s. Three of these days saw 80 degrees or better.
As we wind down the month of February and begin the new month of March, forecasts call for temperatures to be just a bit below normal and rainfall just a bit above. Perhaps no visits from the Polar Vortex or prolonged early March heat waves. I am ready for spring. How about you?