March

March began chilly, but came in like a lamb with sunshine. But it didn't take long to get things going. A storm system dumped 4-8" of snow on parts of the Catskills on March 2nd. We had the heaviest snow staying south of Utica and that's exactly what happened, as only a few flurries were reported here. The NWS Albany has archived some totals from that event. A fat area of high pressure settled in over us leading to seasonably cool days and downright cold nights heading toward the 8th. Our first rain storm brought us just over an inch on the 9th. And our first thunderstorms of spring arrived on the 13th after we hit 61 degrees.

In the timeframe of the 11th through the 13th, major national news was made, as a significant tornado outbreak occurred in the Midwest. In Missouri alone, over 40 tornadoes occurred and at least 9 people were killed. More details on this amazing outbreak can be found from the NWS in St. Louis.

Back home, on the 14th, colder air arrived and the lakes reminded us that it was still technically winter. Heavy lake effect snow, to the tune of 7-14" on average, hit parts of CNY from the just south of the Thruway and points north. Snow totals can be found here. The 13.3" total in Utica made this lake effect event crack the top 10 of biggest snow events ever in the month of March.

But, aside from that, the rest of the month was mainly quiet. A few flurries and squalls brought 2-4" to parts of the viewing area in the hills south of Utica on the 18-19th. But then very little precipitation and a good amount of sunshine closed out the month. March went out like a lamb as well, with sunshine and highs in the upper 70s!