Another month of winter in the books...

Posted March 1st, 2010 by Bill Kardas. 36 comments

Happy March 1st!  While the majority of the country looks forward to spring this month, here in Central New York we have to wait another month.  Before we talk about what we can look forward to, let's take a look back at the month of February.

Temperature: 24.3° (+1.0)
Snow: 34.1" (+15.3)

February will go down in the books as a typical month of winter. Temperatures ranged from -1 on February 7th to 40 degrees on February 26th.  Temperatures overall were warmer than normal, mainly due to the very mild overnight low temperatures.  There wasn't much of a spread in temperatures across the month.  The quiet weather had a lot to do with the little change in temperature.  There was snow reported on all but two days.  Most of these snows were light...except for of course the big storm at the end of the month.  This one single handedly put us above normal for the month as well as back to normal for the season.

Onward to March. March is one of the most challenging yet intersting months in weather.  We've seen just about everything in March, from large snowstorms to thunderstorms.  The records for the month of March range from -20 (March 3rd 1950) to 86 (March 31, 1998). 

Sunshine in March becomes much more important to the weather forecast.  As the sun angle gets higher, days get longer, and the sun has a greater effect on the weather.  The sun tends to rip apart lake effect snow that forms during the day.  Any snows that do fall during the day have a hard time sticking to the pavement with temperatures near freezing.  Also, on a bright, sunny March afternoon the snow will melt on the pavement even with temperatures well below freezing.  These are just some examples of how the sun affects the weather.

Our weather over the course of the week will stay in winter mode.  Light snow showers are expected today as we hang around the fringe of an Atlantic storm.  This storm will toss plenty of moisture our way, and patchy drizzle, snow showers, and fog can be expected by Tuesday.  Another storm passes south on Wednesday, perhaps giving the Mid Atlantic another snowfall.

Dry weather expected by the end of the week, as an area of high pressure builds in from the west.  Sunshine and moderating temperatures will be the name of the game by the weekend.  Perhaps highs near 40 degrees by Saturday and Sunday.

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  1. Bill Kardas (WKTV):

    Good Monday morning! If you’re interested in being on our seasonal snowall list, please send in your reports this morning before 11am (either post your totals here or send us an email to weather@wktv.com). The list is updated once a week. Thanks!

    Posted March 1st at 6:44 AM

  2. Tony - CNYWeather.com (Westmo):

    71.6” for Westmo seasonal snow. 13” on the ground

    Posted March 1st at 7:35 AM

  3. Rob (Whitesboro):

    I have 79.0” here for the season.

    Posted March 1st at 8:28 AM

  4. Mel (Westernville):

    Seasonal total at 93.1”

    Posted March 1st at 8:54 AM

  5. Brian (Lairdsville):

    Season total is 82.1”.

    Posted March 1st at 9:05 AM

  6. MG(Point Rock):

    Season snow is 120.0”. For Febuary, I had 44.5, which is about 3 inches above my 25 year average. But for the year so far I’m still about 35 inches below normal.
    Another strange thing about February was the precipitation — for the first 21 days, I had 0.99” liquid, while in the last 7 days alone I received 2.42”

    Posted March 1st at 9:13 AM

  7. MG(Point Rock):

    Temperatures have also been unusual. I haven’t been below 28 degrees since last Monday; pretty unusual for a week in February.

    Posted March 1st at 9:15 AM

  8. Barbara (Laurens):

    Seasonal snow total now at 71”.
    Maple syrup soon…!

    Posted March 1st at 9:25 AM

  9. Becky (West Leyden):

    Seasonal snow total now at 140.075.

    Posted March 1st at 10:30 AM

  10. Jeff H (Sherburne Hills):

    31.1” total snowfall for the week last week, ALMOST 50% of the total for the year!!! Snowpack still at just under 24” on the ground here in the hills. Total snowfall for the year 99.3”

    Posted March 1st at 10:33 AM

  11. Becky (West Leyden):

    After the mid-week storm pulls out of the mid- Atlantic the high that moves over the Northeast sure looks nice. It certainly will be nice to see a lot of Sun for a change.

    Posted March 1st at 11:04 AM

  12. Bill Kardas (WKTV):

    Seasonal snowfall totals updated Many areas picked up 20-30” of snow over the past week.

    Posted March 1st at 11:18 AM

  13. Tony - CNYWeather.com (Westmo):

    Man I’m really behind everyone.

    Posted March 1st at 12:56 PM

  14. Matt S. (Deerfield):

    19 Days Until Spring!!!!! YES!!!!!!

    Posted March 1st at 4:20 PM

  15. Jimmy (New Hartford):

    Just realized i made a mistake when I posted my seasonal snow total, i said i had 69.6 inches, but it should be 79.6

    Posted March 1st at 4:36 PM

  16. Nate(little falls):

    Season total here is 50inches even

    Posted March 1st at 8:00 PM

  17. Michael- (Dolgeville):

    262.50” inches of snow in Garret County Maryland for seasonal snow total. Thats almost double what parts of the Tug have had this winter!!!

    Posted March 1st at 11:09 PM

  18. Bill Kardas:

    Good pleasant morning! The March sun is working on those clouds this morning, and we’re finally seeing some breaks of sunshine. This looks to continue through the day, and it should shape up to be a pleasant afternono for most areas.

    The next storm will pass south of Central New York, perhaps giving a few inches of snow to areas like Virginia and Maryland.

    No appreciable snow is expected over the next seven days. Our snowfall deficit will grow a bit bigger (for now).

    Posted March 2nd at 11:32 AM

  19. Becky (West Leyden):

    It looks like we could get a taste of Spring early next week. However, it will only last for a few days.

    Posted March 2nd at 11:55 AM

  20. randy Vitullo :

    It looks like a cool pocket of air after a rain event next week. The cool trough looks to hang around for a week or so. Winter’s last hurrah????? Maybe we will get a few inches of powdery snow late next week into the following week before the official arrival of calendar spring.

    Posted March 2nd at 2:38 PM

  21. Becky (West Leyden):

    So far, the winter of 2009-2010 has been interesting. That is, as long as you didn’t live in the Mohawk Valley or northern New York. I’ve been digging around in several places on the internet ; the SPC, NOAA, NWS websites, and newspaper and TV sites. The winter will go down in history as the time the mid-Atlantic was buried in snow. For example, Philadelphia was hit by three blizzards one on Dec 19-20 for 23.2”, another on Feb 5-6 for 28.5 and one on Feb 10-11 for 15.8. In fact, Philadelphia is reporting a seasonal total that’s 471% above normal. The Maryland State Highway Administration has racked up 262.5 inches. As everyone knows our area saw a snowstorm drought; we were always just by-stander, we watched as every storm passed to the south. However, that all changed when the Feb. 24-26 nor’easter dumped 12-30 inches over large parts of our area. This storm was so powerful that a few places along the coast reported pressure readings below 28.70 in/hg. In spite of this, the entire area is still in a snow drought, with most areas still below normal annual snowfall amounts. Not wanting to be left out, the southern states also saw large snowstorms. Texas saw its biggest snowstorm in decades. The National Weather Service said that Tarrant County received 14.40 inches (we would have loved a storm like that this year). The month of February was the most interesting month of the entire winter. In one of the blog entries Jill reported that all 50 states had snow on the ground at the same time. Also, the SPC reports that not a single tornado was reported in the United States during February, This is very rare, the NWS tornado database was started in 1950 and if the record stands it would be the first time there were no tornadoes reported in Feb. prior to this only two years 1964 and 2002 reported anything near to this, in both years there were two tornadoes reported in Feb. However, It’s possible one happened before 1950, “ If we include Tom Grazulis’s database of F2 and stronger tornadoes, the last time it’s possible there wasn’t a February tornado was 1947.” http://www.norman.noaa.gov/2010/03/no-tornadoes-in-february-2010. We will see if March is as noteworthy.

    Posted March 2nd at 7:57 PM

  22. Art (Oriskany Falls):

    We have almost 1/2 inch of new snow this morning and snowing here again.

    The temp is__34*__ and my Weather Station is showing snow or rain.

    Posted March 3rd at 8:26 AM

  23. Jan:

    Very interesting Becky! I am glad you are back!

    Posted March 3rd at 11:34 AM

  24. randy Vitullo :

    The long range GFS 6Z and 12Z are looking pretty scary. The 6z absolutely shellacs us with copius amounts of moisture (looks like a rain to snow scenario). The 12z pulls the precip out to sea and has us under a dome of pretty cold air. They show the -10 blue line right over NY. Haven’t seen that in well over a month.

    Posted March 3rd at 12:20 PM

  25. Bill Kardas (WKTV):

    Snow showers this morning have retreated to the south. Our weather pattern will take a turn for the dry side. We only had two completely snow free days in February. To see weather this quiet in March is very unusual. No significant weather is expected over the next seven days.

    Randy,

    The GFS has a cold bias beyond 120 hours, especially this time of the year. I wouldn’t be surprised if it starts backing off on that cold air later next week. The March sunshine will start to drive the jet stream pattern. Also of note, the snowpack becomes crucial in order to bring cold air to the northeast. We’ll look into the snowpack in Canada and talk about long term implications later in the week.

    Posted March 3rd at 12:28 PM

  26. Bill Kardas (WKTV):

    Snowmelt will likely continue over the next few days, but the positive side is that this is a slow melt. The dry pattern plus the slow melting snow will likely keep flooding off the table in this normally flood prone time of year.

    Posted March 3rd at 12:30 PM

  27. Becky (West Leyden):

    Thanks Jan. I don’t get on as much as I like.

    Randy, That’s the problem with march. It keeps on the edge of your seat. It gives you a taste of spring only to take it away.

    The GFS is showing the storm next week going to our south. Also, the models are showing another potentially monster storm around the 16-18 of March. My Grandmother called storms around that date “Line storms” and said it was a sure sign winter was over, bill any thoughts on this? I kind of feel this could be the storm that breaks Winter’s back.

    Posted March 3rd at 1:03 PM

  28. MG(Point Rock):

    For what it’s worth, the Climate Prediction Center of NOAA calls for above normal temps for both the 6-10 day and the 8-14 day forecasts. Precip is normal to below normal.
    I have noticed in the past, though, that these long range forecasts are not too reliable.

    Posted March 3rd at 1:45 PM

  29. Bill Kardas (WKTV):

    Becky,

    I’ve never heard of the term “Line storm” before, but I know that storm tracks are very important for dictating the prevailing weather patterns. The placement of that storm (west, east) and the air behind it have a lot to do with what happens after the storm. That date in particular doesn’t stand out to me, but that seems to be a good “cut off” point between steady winter weather and bursts of spring.

    Posted March 3rd at 3:49 PM

  30. randy Vitullo :

    Typically, snow storms in late March, drag in warm air after the storm leaves. Thus, officially ending winter. The last several storms that have passed through us, south of us and east of us, have all forgot to bring in the cold air behind it. Is winter dead?

    Posted March 3rd at 3:58 PM

  31. Becky (West Leyden):

    Bill, the way I understand the term: a Line Storm is a violent storm that occurs at or near the time of the equinox. I’ve also heard it called a Line Gale. I guess it was used a lot 40- 50 years ago.

    Posted March 3rd at 4:17 PM

  32. fairfield:

    testing

    Posted March 3rd at 11:12 PM

  33. fairfield:

    i’m back on line now. after all that snow last week our power went out and fried my satellite modem. just got back online tonight with dsl; much faster….sorry for the digression. that snow is wicked heavy, tried to scrape down the driveway and ya can’t lift it at all, i’m ready for the snow to leave now though, our snowman looks more like a snow blob….by the way, my first post on here, there was no verification to type in? still isn’t for me

    Posted March 3rd at 11:15 PM

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