MONTHLY WEATHER DATA AND OBS - LAVALE MD MARCH 2012 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 55 40 Partly sunny, very windy 2 48 29 .45 T Partly sunny, PM rain and thunderstorms 3 52 34 Partly sunny, windy, falling temps 4 37 31 .02 0.1 T Mostly cloudy, blustery, snow showers 5 46 26 .01 0.1 T Snow showers ending, partial clearing 6 46 20 Partly to mostly cloudy, cold AM 7 68 27 Fair and much warmer after another chilly AM 8 66 36 .04 Cloudy, a few brief showers 9 46 31 Colder, variable clouds, windy 10 50 25 Partly cloudy, cool, continued windy 11 70 26 Sunny, cold AM then very mild PM 12 70 26 T Partly to mostly cloudy, PM sprinkles, mild 13 76 47 Partly cloudy, warm 14 78 47 Sunny & warm 15 76 47 Partly sunny & warm 16 72 49 Fair & warm 17 77 46 Partly cloudy & warm 18 72 53 .11 AM rain, partial clearing, warm 19 72 52 .17 AM rain then partly cloudy, warm 20 76 54 Mostly cloudy, late clearing, warm 21 65 55 Mostly cloudy, mild 22 82 58 Partly to mostly cloudy, very warm 23 84 55 .13 T Partly cloudy, record warmth, late PM t-storm 24 64 53 1.18 F Mostly cloudy, rain showers heavy @ times 25 56 52 F Partly to mostly cloudy, cooler 26 58 44 Partly cloudy 27 55 30 Sunny, chilly AM 28 72 36 T Mostly cloudy, mild, thunder to north 29 60 42 Partly sunny 30 54 35 .03 T Partly to mostly cloudy, brief late t-storm 31 56 45 .38 T Overnight showers & t-storms AVG/SUM 63.2 40.4 2.52 0.2 T EXT 84 20 1.18 0.1 T Date 23 6 24 5* 5 *=Also occurred on earlier dates Miscellaneous Stats Mean Monthly Temperature: 51.8°F (+11.1°F) Year precipitation to date: 8.51" (-0.93") March precipitation departure: -1.34" (normal 3.86") Season snowfall to date: 16.4" (-23.2") Number of days with: Fog 2 Thunder 5 NOTES/SIGNIFICANT EVENTS 1: Very windy with WNW winds 10-25 mph and gusts 40+ mph. Wind was clocked at 52 mph in Frostburg. 2: PM rain and imbedded thunderstorms. 2nd of the past 3 days with thunder. 4-5: Much colder and blustery with snow showers/squalls. Little accumulation. 7-8: Much milder again with highs in the upper 60s. 11-23: INCREDIBLE warm streak. Temperatures reached 70 or higher on all but one of these days. The only measurable rain fell on the 18th and 19th. A record high of 84 was recorded on the 23rd. 23-24: The long stretch of exceptionally warm weather finally fades, as a cold front triggered several thunderstorms and heavy rain from late on the 23rd into the afternoon of the 24th. 1.31" rain. 28: Very mild high 72. Some thunder but no rain - several strong storms passed to the north. 30-31: Thunderstorms late on the 30th and overnight on the 30th-31st, 0.41" of rain fell. Additional Notes/Records: 17: High of 77 just misses tying the record of 78 set in 1989. 18: Record high min 53 F. Previous record 47 in 2003. 19: Record high min 52 F. Previous record 47 in 2009. 20: Record high min 54 F. Previous record 44 in 1968. 21: Record high min 55 F. Previous record 50 in 1968. 22: Record high min 58 F. Previous record 52 in 1968. High of 82 is 1 degree shy of record (83 in 1966). 23: RECORD HIGH 84 F. Previous record 82 in 1966. Also a record high min 55. Previous record 52 in 1953. 24: Record high min 53 F. Previous record 51 in 2007. 25: Record high min 52 F. Previous record 47 in 2007. 8 consecutive record high mins is also a record! *March 2012 was the WARMEST March on record with a mean temperature of 51.8 °F, shattering the previous 1973 record of 47.2 F. The mean max (63.2) and mean min (40.4) also shatter previous records. The 51.8 average temperature reading is 11.1 °F degrees above normal and is exactly the average for APRIL! This figure is also 3.19 standard deviations above the mean of 40.7 °F, making March the WARMEST MONTH EVER with respect to normal! Also, the first 3 months of 2012 averaged 7.0 °F above normal, just beating out 1990 (+6.9°F) for the warmest first 3 months of any year. Wow!!!* MONTHLY SUMMARY March 2012 will be well remembered for its unbelievable, record warmth. At this location and many others, this was the warmest or one of the warmest March's on record. The mean temperature of 51.8 F equals the average for April, and since records commenced in 1948, this was the WARMEST month, relative to average, 3.19 standard deviations above the mean. Theoretically, the odds of such a warm month are less than 1 in 1,000. 8 consecutive days (18th-25th) had record highs - mostly min temperatures. Temperatures reached 84 on the 23rd, setting a daily record, and was 1 degree shy of tying the March record of 85 set on 6 prior dates. Not surprisingly, the persistent warmth was associated with a relative lack of snowfall. Precipitation was below normal, with more than half of the month's rain falling from thunderstorms and heavy showers on the 23rd-24th (1.31" total). The weather pattern was rather quiet, although there were 5 days with thunder, the most I've seen in March in the 21 years I've been keeping personal records. No severe storms occurred, however, and only two days had fog. March was, in general, a quiet weather month, aside from the record-setting warm temperatures and unusually early-season thunderstorm activity.