The First Day of Spring!

March Snow in Bethesda, MD

Springtime in the Nation’s Capital is an especially nice time of year with attractions such as the National Cherry Blossom Festival that starts today. However, springtime often features highly variable weather in this part of the country. Such was the case this morning with snowfall across much of the Mid-Atlantic Region.  Temperatures have also held roughly twenty degrees colder than today’s average high of 57 degrees in Washington, D.C.  This combination of snowfall and significantly colder than average temperatures helps illustrate how changeable the weather can be this time of year in the Nation’s Capital.

March in particular has historically seen diverse weather in this part of the country. Such was the case on this date in 1990, when Dulles Airport saw 2.2” of snow. That snow came just four days after it was 81 degrees on March 16. Prodigious rainfall has also occurred, such as on March 20, 2003, when Washington, D.C., got 1.95” for a daily record. On March 15 last year, the high temperature reached 70 degrees, just a day before 3.3” of snow fell at National Airport. The snow continued into St. Patrick’s Day for a storm total of 7.2” downtown. Having more than half a foot of snow less than 48 hours after it was 70 degrees was remarkable.

Such extreme changes in the weather can sometimes lead to thunderstorms. On occasion, thunderstorms become severe, so knowing what makes a thunderstorm “severe” and understanding the differences between a weather “watch” and “warning” are both critical to ensure your safety. For more information on severe weather basics and safety tips, see my March 14 and March 18 columns.

Unless there are sustained periods of above average or below average temperatures, temperatures end up being fairly close to average for the month. However, there are exceptions as the month of March 2012 was the warmest March on record with 10 days in the 70s and 4 days in the 80s in Washington, D.C.  Last March was the coldest March in the Nation’s Capital since 1996. For those of you tired of the colder than average weather that the Mid-Atlantic Region experienced for much of the winter, than the good news is that spring officially arrives at 6:45 PM.

Just in time for the weekend, beautiful spring-like weather is on tap tomorrow when the sun returns and temperatures rebound to seasonal levels in the upper 50s.