Notable March Weather Extremes

 

March can still be a snowy month

Washingtonians often experience a wide variety of weather during March, which is also the first month of meteorological spring.  Record cold and snowfall have occurred at various times throughout March, as have severe weather and record warmth.  There have been several memorable examples of each in the DC Metro Area in recent years. 

2018: March has been DC’s snowiest month of the year five times since 2008, most recently in 2018.  Some Washingtonians may recall that 4.1” of snow fell on March 21.  While not a record amount, it was DC’s largest snowfall since the January 2016 blizzard.  Fortunately, the good news is that snow doesn’t stick around very long by this point of the year.  High temperatures were in the 50s just two days after that snowfall.  However, in an unusual twist, both March 2017 and 2018 were colder than the previous February’s.

2017: Following DC’s warmest February on record, March 2017 got off to a very warm start.  A record-tying high of 80° occurred on March 1.  Widespread severe weather occurred that afternoon with a slew of severe wind gusts that caused isolated damage in the DC Metro Area.  Washingtonians had a hard pivot to more winter-like weather less than two weeks later.  A total of 2” of snow accumulated in the Nation’s Capital on March 13-14, 2017.  High/low temperatures of 33°/22° were very unusual on March 15, 2017 because average in the Nation’s Capital on March 15 is 55°/33°.

2016:  Given the recent trend for chilly and snowy March weather in the DC Metro Area, March 2016 stands out since it finished as DC’s fourth warmest March.  There was a four-day stretch from March 8 – 11 when high temperatures were in the upper 70s.  March 2016 was also a dry month in the Nation’s Capital with a monthly rainfall deficit of more than 2”.  There was ample opportunity for folks to spend time outdoors in the predominantly dry and mild weather.

2014: Not only was this March nearly 4° colder than average, but it was also DC’s coldest in nearly two decades since 1996.  Washingtonians may remember it for being an exceptionally snowy month.  A total of 12.7” of snow occurred at National Airport, making it DC’s snowiest month since February 2010 and also DC’s snowiest March since 1960. 

DC’s signature March 2014 storm occurred on March 16-17 with a total of 7.2”.  Making that snowfall even more impressive is that DC’s high temperature on March 15 was a balmy 70°.  More than half of the storm total (3.9”) occurred on March 17, making it the snowiest St. Patrick’s Day on record in Washington, D.C.  However, in true March fashion, DC’s high temperature rebounded to 61° on March 20.