A Mild March So Far

Much of the Northeast was 3°F to 9°F warmer than normal from March 1-15.

The Northeast was warmer than normal during the first half of March, with average temperatures ranging from near normal in northern Maine and the southern half of West Virginia to more than 9°F above normal in parts of New York and New England. At the 35 major climate sites, average temperature departures for March 1-15 ranged from 1.9°F above normal in Caribou to 10.7°F above normal in Albany. It was the warmest first half of March on record for Albany, Hartford, LaGuardia Airport, Central Park, and Bridgeport. Another 23 major climate sites ranked this March 1-15 period among their 10 warmest on record.

This March 1-15 period ranked as the warmest on record for five major climate sites and among the 10 warmest for another 23 of the sites.

March-to-date has been drier than normal for much of the Northeast.

The first half of March has been drier than normal for a large portion of the Northeast. The driest areas, seeing less than 25% of normal, were generally in eastern New England. A few locations, particularly southern West Virginia, northwestern New York, and northern Maine, received more than 200% of normal precipitation. At the 35 major climate sites, precipitation ranged from 18% of normal in Boston to 174% of normal in Caribou. Thirty of the sites were drier than normal, with 16 of them ranking this first half of March among their 20 driest. Conversely, there were five wetter than normal sites with Caribou having its 13th wettest March 1-15 period.

Sixteen of the 35 major climate sites ranked this March 1-15 period among their 20 driest.

Snowfall was below normal across almost the entire Northeast from March 1-15.

Almost the entire Northeast received below-normal snowfall during the first two weeks of March. The greatest deficits of over 12 inches were found east of Lake Ontario in New York. Caribou was the lone major climate site to see above-normal snowfall. At the other 34 sites, snowfall ranged from 10.4 inches below normal in Syracuse to 0.9 inches below normal in Atlantic City. In fact, it was (tied as) the least snowy March 1-15 period for 15 of the sites and ranked among the 15 least snowy at another 13 of the sites.

This March 1-15 period was the least snowy on record for 15 of the major climate sites and among the 15 least snowy at another 13 of the sites.