MONTHLY WEATHER DATA AND OBS - WESTMONT 1.1W PA MARCH 2008 OBSERVERs NATE & STEVE MULLINS Special Observations: F=fog, T=thunder, H=hail, S=sleet, G=glaze, DW=damaging winds Observation time for this station is midnight. Temperature, °F Precipitation, In. Liquid Solid 7am 24-hour At Rain Snow/ Snow Date Max Min Obs Equiv Ice Depth Special Obs. 1 34 22 22 .18 2.5 19 2 36 16 32 18 3 59 30 40 14 4 42 39 42 1.16 11 F 5 38 26 26 .17 T 5 6 42 27 32 4 7 39 31 31 .32 2 F 8 37 17 17 .51 1.5 1 9 24 14 22 .03 0.8 3 10 35 24 28 .10 0.7 3 11 38 28 32 T T 2 F 12 37 30 30 .06 0.8 2 13 57 24 41 1 14 55 34 40 .46 T F 15 44 34 37 T F 16 34 27 27 T T F 17 45 21 36 18 36 32 36 .31 0.5 1 F 19 54 35 35 .79 F 20 36 25 25 .10 0.4 T 21 39 22 34 T 22 31 26 26 .19 2.0 1 23 36 19 28 1 24 34 23 27 T T 25 45 20 42 T T 26 54 40 45 .03 27 45 38 40 .34 F 28 47 27 27 .18 F 29 41 20 28 30 43 26 34 31 55 34 51 .01 AVG/SUM 41.7 26.8 32.7 4.94 9.2 2.8 <-Mean EXT 59 14 - 1.16 2.5 19 Date 3 9 - 4 1 1 *=Also occurred on earlier dates Miscellaneous Stats Mean Monthly Temperature: 34.2 F Year precipitation to date: 15.56" Season snowfall to date: 93.7" Number of days with: Fog 10 Thunder 0 Sleet 0 Glaze 0 Hail 0 Damaging Winds 0 DETAILED OBSERVATION NOTES HEAVY SNOW ENDS - 14 INCHES TOTAL! 1: More snow overnight another 2.5" fell. The total from this storm (Feb 29 - Mar 1) was 14 inches and was by far the heaviest snow event of the season and was a complete surprise considering that this was supposed to be a "weak Alberta Clipper" and only drop a couple inches of snow. Some nearby locations, just a few miles on the other side of Laurel Ridge, had just a couple inches of snow from the entire storm. Amazing. Gusty winds & a few snow showers through the day but no additional accumulations. 2: Variably cloudy skies with light W winds. 3: Partly cloudy & much warmer high 59 F with light SW winds. 4: Steady light to moderate rain through much of the day with dense fog developing. Heavy downpour about 10:15pm with moderate rain through midnight 1.16" fell. 5: Another 0.17" rain overnight with strong WNW winds developing and gusting 35+ mph. Temperatures slowly fell through the day blustery winds & a few snow flurries, with mainly overcast skies. 6: Fair to partly cloudy skies with light W winds. 7: Mostly cloudy becoming completely overcast by mid-morning. A cold light steady rain developed by mid- afternoon & continued through evening. Dense fog developed. 8: More rain & fog overnight another 0.34" fell (0.66" since yesterday afternoon). Strong W winds developed by afternoon with rain changing to light snow and accumulating 1.5" by midnight with steadily falling temperatures. 9: Light snow overnight with W winds still gusting to 30 mph at times. Variable clouds, blustery and cold high only 24 F. 10: Light snow began around 8am and continued on and off through the early afternoon some of it melting as it was falling with a few peaks of sun. About 3/4" snow fell. 11: Light fog/haze in the morning with some light snow & freezing drizzle (trace). Calm wind with mostly clear skies after 5pm. 12: Windy with a few snow showers overnight. Gradual clearing with west winds gusting to 30 mph. 13: Mostly sunny to partly cloudy and much warmer high 57 F with SW winds gusting 20+ mph. 14: Mild with partly to mostly sunny skies but increasing clouds during the morning and early afternoon. Light but steady rain and patchy dense fog during the afternoon & evening 0.46" fell. 15: Dense fog and overcast skies with a few spits of light rain, trace. 16: Overcast skies with light fog and a few snow flurries. 17: Mostly sunny with some increase in clouds during the afternoon. 18: Early morning snow of 1/2" before mixing with and changing to light rain by late morning with some fog. Light rain through the evening 0.31" fell by midnight. 19: Light overnight rain and fog. Steady rain and drizzle throught the day with temperatures dropping by late evening. Another 0.79" rain fell today. 20: Temperatures continued to drop overnight with light rain changing to snow. Light accumulations. Blustery and cold with variable clouds, a few AM flurries & WNW winds gusting 25-35 mph. 21: Mostly sunny skies, becoming partly cloudy with light snow developing towards midnight. 22: Overnight light snow of 1/2". Overcast skies with only a few flurries until a burst of moderate snow from 2-4pm that brought another 1.5 inches of accumulation for a total of 2" today. 23: Clearing and chilly overnight. A rare sunny/clear day with near 100% sunshine. 24: Partly cloudy skies with light NW winds & a few snow flurries. 25: Sunny skies with increasing clouds by late afternoon and becoming breezy. 26: Gusty W winds overnight with a little light rain. Winds slowly diminishing through the day with clearing skies. 27: Some AM drizzle & light rain with fog developing. Occasional light to moderate rain showers through the evening hours 0.34" fell by midnight. 28: A few showers overnight. Overcast skies with some drizzle & dense fog. Another 0.18" fell. A few peaks of PM sun and clearing after sunset with temperatures falling to 27 F by midnight. 29: Mostly sunny skies with light/variable N to NW winds. 30: Sunny and breezy with winds shifting to S/SW and an increasing in high clouds during the evening hours. 31: An early AM brief light shower. Otherwise overcast and breezy with milder temperatures. Skies cleared and winds died after sunset. Peepers heard for the first time this season. MONTHLY SUMMARY As per folklore, March came in like a lion and went out like a lamb. The area began the month digging out from a surprise 14-inch snow on the 29th of February and early March 1st. 19 inches of snow was on the ground that morning. But the snow quickly melted, due to warm temperatures and rain. The weather pattern was overall active, with frequent moderate, but no particularly heavy precipitation events. Desite seasonably cool (and relatively consistent) temperatures, not much snow fell. There were no extremes in either temperatures or precipitation. Fog was common, occurring on 10 days, but surprisingly there were no observations of thunder, sleet, glaze, hail or damaging winds, unusual for March. The month ended with breezy and mild conditions and the sound of peepers, hinting the arrival of spring.