It's March- Are We Done?
By Richard Sparago on February 29, 2012, 12:00am
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Leap year means March comes one day later than usual. We had some snow today in parts of the state, technically still in February. So what does the transition to March mean for our weather? Certainly the first thing that comes to mind is the first day of spring (March 20th this year). Are we done with winter? What does history tell us?
Interestingly, we've had some of our biggest snowstorms in March. The blizzard of 1888 raged from March 11th-14th, with reports of 50 inches of snow on the east coast. This storm also produced strong winds, and frigid temperatures. Further, the days leading up to the storm were abnormally mild, with temperatures in the 40s and 50s, and the precipitation actually began as rain.
Move the calendar forward 105 years to 1993, when we had another March blizzard. This one occurred from March 13th-14th, and has been labeled the "storm of the century". The snowfall totals were impressive, ranging from 18-26 inches in Connecticut. But the "storm of the century" got its name due to its sheer size and intensity. At one point, the storm was producing violent weather from South Florida to Canada at the same time. If you have a minute, Google the radar images of that storm. You'll see purple bands from Miami right on up the east coast. At one point, winds in Florida were clocked at 120 mph, and winds off the Louisiana coast hit 99 mph. From what I've read, the extreme differences in temperature as the storm moved eastward helped produced the storm's intensity. This phenomenon can be more prevalent in March than in the earlier winter months.
Should we brace for one more hit from Old Man Winter? The long range forecasts do not support this (at least for the next 8 days), but if history has taught us anything, it has taught us that winter is not always over when we turn to March. I'd enjoy a nice snowstorm (I'm guessing I'm in the minority here). At least I have some degree of hope, if history truly can repeat itself.
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