MONTHLY WEATHER DATA AND OBS - LAVALE MD MARCH 2009 OBSERVER SCOTT LOHR DATA COMPILED AND PUBLISHED BY NATE 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 DAY 24-hour Rain Snow/ Snow Special WEATHER Date Max Min Equiv Ice Depth Obs. SUMMARY 1 37 23 .11 2.5 3 Overnight snow, remained overcast 2 23 14 2 Partly cloudy, gusty W winds, cold 3 29 7 1 Cold, mostly sunny 4 41 12 1 Mostly sunny 5 55 20 T Partly sunny 6 74 37 Partly sunny, mild 7 73 58 Partly sunny becoming mostly cloudy, mild 8 71 63 Mostly sunny, mild 9 65 53 Mostly cloudy 10 50 35 Mostly cloudy 11 65 39 Partly cloudy 12 42 30 Mostly cloudy, cooler 13 45 32 Mostly cloudy 14 52 32 .04 Cloudy, PM light rain 15 42 37 Cloudy 16 45 40 .21 Cloudy, occasional rain 17 54 41 Mostly cloudy becoming partly cloudy 18 73 35 F AM fog, becoming mostly sunny, mild 19 56 47 Mostly cloudy, breezy, partly cloudy late 20 45 30 Partly cloudy 21 52 22 Partly cloudy 22 59 26 Partly sunny 23 57 30 Partly cloudy 24 50 25 Partly to mostly sunny 25 50 34 .20 F Becoming mostly cloudy, PM showers 26 43 41 .38 F Intermittent rain 27 58 39 .36 F AM fog becoming partly sunny. Rain heavy at times late 28 50 48 .17 Rain ended overnight .53" total 29 50 39 .17 Overcast w/ drizzle & showers, clearing and windy late 30 52 36 Overcast becoming partly cloudy, blustery, 30 mph winds 31 61 31 Mostly sunny AVG/SUM 52.2 34.1 1.64 2.5 0.2 <--Mean EXT 74 7 0.38 2.5 3 Date 6 3 26 1 1 *=Also occurred on earlier dates Miscellaneous Stats Mean Monthly Temperature: 43.1 F (+2.1) Year precipitation to date: 5.44" (-3.93") Season snowfall to date: 20.8" (-16.3") Number of days with: Fog 4 SIGNIFICANT EVENTS 1: Overnight snow 2.5" fell. Dry snow 0.11" precip. This snow was from the outer band of a strong storm moving up the coast. The local pattern was very unusual with areas just east of the mountains receiving the most snow (2.7" fell in Cumberland) and virtually no snow just to our north & west in the higher mountain locations such as Frostburg, Garrett and Somerset counties. Very interesting. 2-3: Very cold. High only 23 on the 2nd and a chilly low of 7 F on the 3rd, high only 29. High of 23 on the 2nd ties for 3rd lowest March max temperature in 18 years of record keeping. The lowest was 20 on March 14, 1993 and March 8, 1996. 6-8: Dramatic warm-up with high temperatures in the 70s each day. High 74 on the 6th is an 18-year record for the date. High 73 F on the 7th 2 degrees shy of the record of 75 in 2000. Low only reached 63 on the 8th, setting a new all-time March record for highest min. This is warmer than the average low temperature in July! A wild-fire was reported on Wills Mtn. overnight 8th-9th. 16: Light and much needed rain .21" fell. It has been extremely dry lately... 18: Warm again high 73 F, setting an 18-year record high for the date. 25-26: Modest but much-needed rainfall .58" total. More possibly headed this way this weekend. Believe it or not, the .20" on the 25th was a new 18-year record high. 27-28: More modest but needed rain .53" total. 29: Drizzle overnight, midday showers, clearing & windy late this evening 30: Very windy all day 31: Cool AM, mild PM MONTHLY SUMMARY March was considerably milder and woefully drier than average. The month came in like a lion. A localized band of snow on the western edges of an east coast storm brought 2.5" on the 1st. This was the only snow of the entire month. The 2nd and 3rd were very cold, with 18-year record lows both days of 14 and 7, respectively. However, a dramatic warm-up immediately followed, with temperatures in the 70s for three consecutive days on the 6th, 7th and 8th, the first time since 2000 this has happened. The 6th set an 18-year daily record of 74 and was also the month's high temperature, just 3 days after the month's low. The low of 63 on the 8th was a new all-time monthly high min temperature. March 8th has had some interesting temperature observations in my 18 year record book: 1992: Unseasonably mild high/low 60/49. 1995: Dramatic turn-around high 62 low 19 as a strong cold front passed through with rain, sleet, snow and high winds. The high on the 7th was 74 and the high on the 9th was only 29! 1996: 18-year low max temperature of 20 F, very cold. Low was 11. 1999: Low of 8 F, 18-year record low set. 2000: High of 80 F, 18-year record high set, just one year after the record low. This was also the earliest 80 degree day in recent history. 2002: Mild high 69 F. 2007: Cold low 9 F - at this station. At a nearby station in LaVale, the low was 2 F! That station was about 200 ft lower in elevation so there was an inversion. Had it been that cold at this station, it would have set the 18-year March low (which is 6 F on March 18, 1993). 2008: Strong cold front, damaging winds in area, month's low set following morning (19 F). 2009: Low of 63 F set a new all-time record high min temperature for the entire month of March. Also a wild fire broke out on Wills Mtn and continued overnight until finally extinguished on the 9th In other words, March 8th has had a lot of extreme warm and cold temperatures in the past 18 years! The 18-year record for precipitation March 8th is 1.35" in 1998 and snow is 2.0" in 1995. The other really warm day this month was the 18th, which, with a high of 73 F, also set an 18-year record. The balance of the month saw near to slightly above normal temperatures with less variation then what was seen early in the month. Meanwhile, March was nearly snowless, had it not been for localized snow band on the 1st. Unless we get an unusually late-season blizzard in April, 2008-2009 will be the 5th consecutive season with below normal snowfall. It was also a very dry month with only 1.64" of rainfall, 3rd driest in the past 18 years of records and 5th driest overall since 1948. Most of the month's precipitation fell near the end of the month. Except for the temperature swings at the beginning of the month and the Northeaster that grazed the area on the 1st, March was a quiet, unremarkable weather month. Additional notes/records 3: Record low 7 F 6: Record high 74 F 7: Record high min 58 F 8: Record high min 63 F not only sets daily record but ties the monthly record set on Mar. 28, 1989. 9: Record high min 53 F 19: Record high min 47 F March's mean minimum temperature of 43.1 F ranks 2nd warmest on record.