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Science Forum Index » Geology - Meteorology Forum » March 2008 National Weather Summary
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 Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 1:47 pm |
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NATIONAL WEATHER SUMMARY
MARCH 2008
1st-8th...Much of the activity occurred over the Midwest and Deep South
on Monday as a strong storm system moved across. The combination of
the warm moist air from the Gulf and the frontal system that extended
from the upper Midwest and Great Lakes to the Southern Plains and
lower Mississippi Valley, led to widespread precipitation across much
of the Central U.S. Widely scattered showers and thunderstorms
developed along and ahead of the front. Strong to severe
thunderstorms, in particular, pounded through eastern Texas and
portions of lower Mississippi Valley. Moreover, much colder air behind
the front caused widespread snow showers across the southern Rockies,
central Plains, mid-Mississippi Valley and portions of the upper
Midwest. Areas of freezing rain and heavy snow also fell in the
central Plains and mid-Mississippi Valley. To the south and east of
the front, well above normal temperatures persisted across the
Southeast and parts of the mid-Atlantic, as a ridge of high pressure
held firmly in place. Afternoon temperature soared once again into the
70s and 80s. Parts of the Northeast also experienced mild
temperatures. Out West, rain and higher elevation snow developed from
the Pacific Northwest to the northern Rockies Monday as a trough of
low pressure pushed through. On the other hand, another beautiful late
winter day prevailed across the southwestern U.S. Plenty of sunshine
with moderate offshore flow helped temperatures climbing into the 70s
and lower 80s in the Southern California and southwestern Arizona.
While the Southeast and Southwest enjoyed the unusual warmth, the
upper Midwest saw temperatures remaining below the freezing degree
mark on Monday.
A strong winter storm brought heavy snows to portions of the Midwest
and the Great Lakes on Wednesday. Localized totals of 6 to 12 inches
occurred in a path from St. Louis, Missouri through Detroit. A swath
of heavy ice accumulations occurred across northern Ohio, far northern
Pennsylvania, and into western and southern New York State. Ice
accumulations of over a half an inch coated trees, power lines and
roadways. The warm side of the storm brought strong to severe
thunderstorms to the Mid-Atlantic with multiple reports of damaging
wind gusts. Moderate to heavy rain occurred with these storms and
across portions of eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and southeastern
New York. Rain totals were generally one to two inches in the highest
spots. Light snow showers were noted across the Upper Midwest, the
central Plains, and much of the northern and central Rockies. A wintry
mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain will impact portions of northern
New England today. Ice accumulations could reach a quarter to a half
an inch of rain in some locations. This will produce stress to power
lines and trees. The back side of this system will feature moderate to
heavy snow across northern New York. Snow accumulations of 2 to five
inches will be possible. There will be a period of moderate to heavy
rain across much of southern New England and Downeast Maine. Rainfall
totals of half an inch to 1.5 inches will be possible. Strong, gusty
winds will develop across New England, with wind gusts of 30-40 mph
expected in spots. Unseasonably cold temperatures will be common
across the Rockies and the eastern Great Basin, with highs 10 to 20
degrees below normal. Light snow showers will be likely across much of
the Rocky Mountains today. The heaviest snow will likely occur across
the higher elevations of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico,
where 2 to 5 inches of snow will be possible. Other locations will
receive a trace to two inches of snow. Another area of light snow
showers will push across the Upper Midwest and into the Great Lakes.
Snow accumulations of a trace to two inches will be common in these
areas.
A strong storm system continues to wind itself up as it tracks across
the Northeast on Saturday. The system has been multi-faceted in the
effects it has unleashed over much of the eastern half of the country.
Snow has been heavy over the Ohio Valley and through the Lower Great
Lakes region, where already over a foot of snow has occurred in
portions of central Ohio and western New York. Total accumulations
could reach nearly a foot and a half through tonight. There has even
been substantial snow into the South, where up to a foot fell in parts
of western and middle Tennessee through this morning, before tapering
off. Icing has occurred from eastern Kentucky and up the Appalachians
with this system and it's going to be a concern into the evening over
the far interior sections of the Northeast. Up to three-quarters of an
inch of ice with 4 inches of sleet has occurred from this storm in
eastern Kentucky. This storm is continuing to bring heavy rain from
the Mid-Atlantic into southern New England. Rainfall over 3 inches has
fallen so far across Long Island and into coastal Connecticut, with
more rain ahead for the waterlogged region into this evening.
Thunderstorms over southeastern Virginia have been severe and have
knocked down trees during the morning hours. These storms could bring
strong winds up into the Delaware Valley and possibly central parts of
New Jersey into the evening hours. Winds have been strong over the
Southeast as the storm drives a tight gradient deep into the country.
Winds have gusted as high as 62 mph in southeastern Georgia and the
strong winds have knocked down trees and power lines down into central
Florida so far today. These winds should diminish some later in the
afternoon but with the soil weakened by recent rains, more trees and
power interruptions are expected over the Southeast. An area of light
snow is tracking through the eastern Dakotas and into Minnesota and
this should push farther south and east across the Midwest tonight.
Generally around an inch of snow is expected with this system. This
will keep the snow on the ground in Rochester, Minnesota, which has
seen 100 straight days of at least an inch of snow this winter season,
which is the longest such stretch in 15 years. Cold temperatures
gripped the Upper Midwest this morning as well with many areas below
zero. They include La Crosse, Wisconisn, which has seen 30 days since
November of subzero temperatures when in a normal winter 22 days would
be noted. There are still two more weeks of winter and more cold air
expected to come to the region. Across the West, snow showers are
moving through the Great Basin and central Rockies with up to 7 inches
possible through tonight in western Colorado. Winds are gusty down
into Nevada and central California as well, with gusts up to 45 mph
possible through early this evening before subsiding.
9th-15th...An area of showers and thunderstorms will track across the
southeastern half of Texas and eastward into Louisiana and parts of
Mississippi this afternoon through tonight. Already these storms have
produced over an inch of rain across central and eastern portions of
the Lone Star State with continued heavy rainfall expected, possibly
up to 1.50". Some storms will be severe with damaging winds, large
hail and the threat for isolated tornadoes through this evening. Very
early this morning in the Abilene area, severe storms dropped 1 inch
diameter hail. Moisture increases over the Pacific Northwest as a cold
front moves into the region into tonight with rain in lower elevations
and high elevation snow. Most concentrated snow should be found over
the highest elevations of the Cascades eastward into eventually the
mountains of northern Idaho and western Montana overnight where 1-3
inches of snow could occur. Rainfall amounts could approach an inch
over parts of western Washington and Oregon through Tuesday morning.
Winds will be gusty at between 30-40 mph from the Cascades westward
through the event. An area of light rain and snow is pushing from the
Great Lakes region to the Mid-Atlantic today. Generally light
accumulations of around an inch are expected through the day before
the activity pushes off the coast Tuesday morning. Not much in the way
of collection has occurred so far today with temperatures in most
areas above freezing.
A disturbance progressing across the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, Mid-
Atlantic and Northeast has been bringing some scattered, light rain
showers last night into this morning and the bulk of the precipitation
is now across New England on Wednesday. Snow accumulations have been
light and on the order of half an inch to 3 inches for most, while
rainfall of 1-tenth to three-tenths of an inch has been received. This
system will continue to progress off the coast into tonight with dry
conditions ensuing. Farther south, isolated showers and thunderstorms
rolled across South Carolina, Georgia and Florida last night. Fairly
minor rainfall was received but isolated spots picked up over half an
inch with the heaviest activity over central and south Florida. Dry
conditions are now in place as this system has moved off the eastern
coast of Florida. Another weak disturbance progressed from Montana to
northwestern Iowa over the past 24 hours, bringing areas of light rain
and snow showers as well as blustery conditions. Snowfall has been on
the order of an inch or less for most and primarily confined to areas
along the US/Canada border. Farther south, rainfall of 3-tenths of an
inch or less has been the norm. Isolated higher amounts have fallen
across South Dakota. Winds have been gusting 40-50 mph behind this
system and this will continue into this afternoon and evening before
weakening. High pressure has been dominating most of the West, with
fair skies and mild weather, but a storm system is already bringing
some light rain to the Pacific Northwest. This will increase in
coverage and intensity into tonight as the system moves inland.
Rain showers and strong thunderstorms developed across eastern
portions of the southern Plains and pushed into the middle and lower
Mississippi Valley late in the afternoon and into the overnight hours
on Thursday. Frequent lightning, gusty winds, large hail and heavy
downpours were reported with some of this activity. In fact, golfball-
size hail was reported at Mulberry, Arkansas. Rainfall amounts of
close to an inch were reported as well. Elsewhere, widely scattered
rain showers and mountain snows affected the Pacific Northwest,
northern California, portions of the Great Basin and the northern and
central Rocky Mountains. Rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches fell across
western portions of the Pacific Northwest, with 2 to 4 inches of new
snow reported at the higher elevations.
16th-22nd...A band of significant rainfall continued from the Southern
Plains northeastward through the Mid-Mississippi and Ohio Valleys as
well as the northern Mid-Atlantic and Appalachians. Heavy rain caused
widespread flooding of countless roads and lower water crossings.
Waters reached numerous homes and many roads were closed. This was due
to a storm system that developed in the Southern Plains and a potent
cold front slowly progressed northeastward from the southern Great
Plains. There was also tremendous amount of Gulf moisture streaming
northward across the Great Plains. Strong to severe thunderstorms
fired up across parts of the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi
Valley, with hail up to an inch in diameter and winds gusts to 70 mph.
Moreover, widely scattered snow showers developed in the Upper
Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes, and freezing rain fell in portions
of the northern Appalachians. Parts of the southern Rockies and
southern High Plains saw light to moderate snow as well. Out West, a
Pacific system pushed ashore Tuesday and produced widely scattered
rain and high elevation snow showers from the Pacific Northwest
through the Intermountain West and Rockies. Heavier precipitation fell
in the Pacific Northwest as moderate to fresh onshore flow continued.
Temperature wise, chilly temperatures persisted from the upper Midwest
through the Great Lakes and northern New England. Highs on Tuesday
only reached into the 30s and 40s. On the other hand, the Desert
Southwest and portions of the Deep South experienced a fairly warm day
as afternoon temperatures soared into the upper 70s and 80s.
Very windy conditions and some lingering snow showers continued to
impact the Northeast through this morning on Friday. Wind gusts of
30-45 mph have become fairly common with isolated gusts near 50 mph.
East Milton, Massachusetts recorded a wind gust of 54 mph, the highest
gust so far today. Snow accumulations have been in the 1 to 3-inch
range across New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine with isolated
higher amounts near the Caribou area. Snow showers are winding down
this afternoon but winds will remain strong, gradually decreasing into
tonight. Elsewhere across the region, high pressure has been in
control with mostly clear skies and fairly quiet weather conditions.
Overnight lows ranged from the teens and 20s across New England to
mainly the 30s and 40s elsewhere while temperatures ranged from the
low 40s to low 70s across Florida. Across the central U.S., a storm
system has been dumping 5-10 inches of snow from the eastern Dakotas
into Minnesota and Wisconsin. The maximum snow report so far has been
out of Pickerel Lake, South Dakota with 18.0 inches of fresh snow,
while 9.8 inches of snow has fallen at Chanhassen, Minnesota. Blustery
winds with gusts of 20-35 mph have led to some blowing and drifting
across the region. Snow is now progressing into the Great Lakes and
will bring a swath of 6-12 inches from southern Wisconsin into
southern Michigan, northeastern Indiana and northern Ohio over the
next 24 hours. Low temperatures last night ranged from the teens and
20s in the northern Plains to the 30s, 40s and 50s elsewhere. In the
West, a storm system pushing inland into the Pacific Northwest,
northern Great Basin and northern Rockies has been bringing some
moderate to heavy valley rain with mountain snow. So far rain totals
have ranged from two-tenths of an inch to eight-tenths of an inch,
while snowfall totals in the higher elevations have been in the 3 to 7-
inch range. Winds have been gusting 25-45 mph across the region as
this system progressed inland. Meanwhile, isolated light rain and
mountain snow showers moved across portions of Colorado. Rain and snow
totals were not significant. Overnight lows ranged from the teens and
20s in the mountains, to the 30s and 40s elsewhere while the Desert
Southwest and portions of southern California remained in the low
50s.
23rd-31st...More mostly benign weather moved through the country
Wednesday. The most active weather was due to a frontal system that
moved through the Northeast before pushing into the Atlantic Ocean
late in the day. This feature produced a mixture of rain and snow
through New England in the morning ahead of the front. Dry conditions
then began to dominate the Northeast. Farther inland, the same frontal
system stretched well inland through to the Plains. An area of
moisture pooled along the front and progressed into the Middle
Mississippi Valley where some moderate rain fell in Missouri and
southern Illinois. Lighter showers were also into the Northern Plains.
In the West, another push of onshore flow produced more rain and high
elevation snow in the Northwest and into Northern California. The
Northeast rose into the 40s and 50s, while the Southeast saw
temperatures in the 60s and 70s. The Southern Plains rose into the 80s
and 90s, while the Northwest rose into the 40s. |
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