MONTHLY SUMMARY: MARCH 1998 UPDATED: 4/18/98 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stamps A couple of you have inquired during the past month about your stamp balances. Quite honestly folks, I've just not had the time to complete an account check and likely won't get to it until summer. Then, I'll balance your accounts and mail the findings. You then can remit stamps for any adjustments. As long as I'm employed, I can handle the cost until then! Wanted to do it at the end of December, but that didn't work out. Tom Hensley of Boston, VA has withdrawn, without explanation, from our group. He thanks us for having included him these seven months. Please note several changes in our email address list below AND PLEASE check and recheck your data before mailing it off or sending via e-mail! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTES FROM "AROUND THE LEAGUE"- Annandale - March was wet with above average temperatures. The mean temp for MArch was 46.45 and was 1.45 degrees above the average. The 90 degrees on the 30th was the highest temperature ever recorded (since 1980) in March by 3 degrees. The previous high was set in 1990. March 1998 was the 1st March month to experience a 90 degree day here. The high minimum of 64 on the 31st was the highest since 1991. Rainfall was 1.76" above normal, the wettest since 1994. No measurable snow was recorded this March, the first March since 1986 that no snow had been measured! Arlington - March did NOT come in like a lion nor did it go out like a lamb! No measurable snow fell for the month and the mercury reached 87 degrees on the 30th breaking the old record of 86 degrees set in 1963. While the first two months saw temps well above normal, March was 3/10ths degree cooler than normal. A minor heat wave occurred from the 27th to the 31st. The average temps from the 27th to the 31st averaged 67 to 73 degrees ushering in the first cooling degree days of the year. Rainfall was 2.23" above normal with the majority of the rain falling over 6 days on the 8th and 9th and from the 18th to the 21st. Bridgewater - The first part of the month was very wet. However there was no precipitation the last ten days. Because of the late dry weather, most of the early gardens around here have been planted. I even planted some corn, hoping it might survive a late frost or freeze. If it doesn't make it, I can always replant. The total precipitation for this year is 17.18 inches, which is 9.8 inches above normal. This is a lot of moisture for the first three months. We have already had 3 thunderstorms for this year. Last year, we got the first thunderstorm on May 8. (from Clayton Towers) Centreville - Paul's snowblower is wet; his snowtable is wet!!! He hates the rain!!! Rain for March was 140% above normal while for the year the total is 230% above normal! On twelve days, winds gusted to 30 mph or more while on three days, winds reached 40 mph or higher. The daily mean temp was 5 degrees above normal while the total precip was 2.49 inches above normal. Falls Church - March was just a tad below the average high even with the real warm 80 degrees days towards the end of the month. Erica reports that her average low for the month was 4.4 degrees above normal! Rainfall was about 3 inches above average. March 1998 was a mixed bag with days that felt just like winter and days which felt just like summer. Fredericksburg - Another month with much above normal precipitation; 3 months in a row with over 5 inches! Ken adds that much of the month was relatively cool, considering how warm Janaury and February were. 2 days in a row with temps in the teens , close to the low for the entire winter! By month's end, the temps skyrocketed to summer levels. The 1st 25 days averages 41.2 degrees with the last 6 days averaging 71.3 degrees! Hampton - After a mild and rainy winter, March continued wet, but produced a very cold period near mid-month. Dave notes that he lost tulips and roses to the cold snap. Six inches of rain for the month continued the wet pattern with above normal rainfall since the beginning of '98. Near month's end, a series of very warm days with temperatures approaching 90 degrees helped plants recover from the cold. The month saw no significant storms and a trace of snow occurred on the 16th. Herndon - Russ noted the issuance of freeze warnings during March as the coldest weather of the season followed pre-spring record heat. Herndon - Louisa - John sent some interesting notes reflecting his "weather longevity": "I started keeping temp and precip records of unusual events in 1930 but I cannot find these now. I started a daily recording for the University of Virginia during the 1960s or 1970s but these are misplaced right now. I hope to go through the boxes of records this spring and lay out all the weather records. Over 100 boxes of farm, church, fraternal, civic, and personal items!" Mechanicsville - A nor'easter affected Glenn's station on the 4th with heavy rain and strong winds. Thunderstorms with sharp lightning occurred in the area on the 17th New Market - Newport News - The 90 degree temp on the 30th was an all-time record high for March, reports Gary Leonard. Also, the 23 degrees low temp on the 12th was the coldest temperature for the entire winter!! This is an 67 degree range in only 18 days! Temps continued to run above normal with yet another month of above normal precip. Norfolk - NWS AKQ informs us that ORF had a mean temp some 2.2 degrees above normal while precip was 0.45" above normal. Portsmouth - Despite a return to more normal weather as El Nino's influence relaxed a bit here in the East, the monthly mean temp still ran nearly 2 degrees above normal, mainly due to continued trend of much above normal daily minimum temps. The month's minimum temp of 25 degrees on the 12th was a whopping 13 degrees below the norm for the date. 3 days brought a minimum temperature in the 20s which contributed to some damage locally of plants which had budded. In fact, my Japanese magnolia had its beautiful blooms wiped out after 3 consecutive mornings of 25-30 degree weather! Toward month's end, temps rose dramatically into the 80s for the last 5 days with overnight lows only in the mid 60s by the 31st. The wintry return earlier in the month was overshadowed by this pleasant early "summerlike" weather! A thunderstorm on the 9th produced a wind gust to 47 MPH. The monthly precip total was nearly 1/2" below normal but the year-to-date total was still 5.2" above normal. Richmond - Roy Britt's site experienced snow flurries at his location on the 15th resulting in no accumulation. On the 20th, a thunderstorm produced some small hail during the evening hours. The temperatures were in the middle 40s at the time the storm arrived! Richmond - NWS AKQ reports that RIC ran 1/2 degree below the normal mean temp for MArch while precip was 3.11" above normal! Roanoke - March '98 was wet but not as much above normal as were January and February. Average temp of 45.9 was 0.9 degree below normal which was a surprise to me. Wendell adds, rainfall of 5.98" was 2.06" above normal with no measurable snowfall and that was 2.6" below normal. Stafford - From Danny Jessee come these notes: "Though the month got off to a cold start, it still finished nearly 3 degrees above normal; yet another rainy month as we received 179% of normal rainfall and NO SNOW!; I'm proud to announce that I have acquired a barometer this month!" Woodstock - Lauck reports to us that March was a little wetter than usual with above average temps. Asheville - Asheville found itself as one of the coolest spots during March 1998 with the mean temp some 3.5 degrees below normal. NWS GSP also noted that the area's rainfall was nearly 1 inch (0.92") below normal! Brevard - March was a cool month- according to Bob - with the mean high of 53.1, the mean low of 33.8, and the month's mean of 49.4 degrees with each being about 4 degrees below the norm for the past 9 years. It was a relief to observe only 5.2" of rain, about 2" less that the March average for the past 9 years. The total for the year is 30.70". Traces of snow were observed on 4 days. Charlotte - According to NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC, the monthly mean temp was 1.2 degrees above normal while precip was 0.58" below the norm. Greensboro - NWS RDU reports a mean temp for the Piedmont Triad area some 0.9 degree below normal while total precip was only 1/10th inch below the norm. Temperatures ran on the cool side for the early part of the month, but warmed nicely toward the end. A daily low max temp record of 40 degrees was set on the 17th! Henderson - Raleigh - Wet conditions continued in the central sections of the Tar Heel State. Rainfall for the first quarter of the year is 10.5" above normal! A severe weather outbreak on the 20th included a confirmed tornado just southeast of Raleigh in Garner. Raleigh - Rockwell - Roxboro - Wilmington - NWS ILM asks, "What happened to the rain?" After 4 straight months of above normal precip (including a record wet February) the Port City measured only 2.06", about 1.82" below normal. Temperatures, however, were about normal. 4 days had temps at or below 32 degrees. Charleston - (All of a sudden, Weatherbrief, my supplier of monthly summaries, is carrying CHS' report; or is it CHS is now posting it in the right place on the NWS circuit?) CHS reports, "The El-Nino roller coaster continued for the Charleston area the month of March. Rainfall, while still above normal for the month, tapered off to only a trace during the last 11 days. At the airport, temps ranged from a high of 82 on the 30th and 31st to a new record low of 22 on Friday the 13th. Frost for all but the immediate coast on the 13th managed to ruin many of the flowers which had an early start from the mild winter temps. The average temp was about 2 degrees (1.9) below normal while precip ran some 1.16" above normal at the airport." Columbia - NWS CAE notes an average temp some 2.3 degrees below normal while total precip was about 1/2 inch (0.56) below normal. Greenville-Spartanburg - The average monthly temp was 2.2 degrees below normal while rainfall was 1.08" below normal. (from NWS GSP) Ruby - Notes from Franklin: March was generally mild and wet with year-to-date records showing that we've had 29.22" of rainfall. Tri-cities - The Bristol area of VA and TN saw cooler temps than usual with a mean temp deficiency of 1.9 degrees. On the other hand, precip was slightly in excess (+0.15") when stacked-up against the norm. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATED MEMBERS' E-MAIL ADDRESSES: (posted by permission) BRE Bob Keehn Bob_Keehn@citcom.net BRI Clayton Towers Ctowers@rica.net POR Bill Trotter wtrotter@whro.org RAL Bob Woodson woods@pipeline.com CEN Paul Bassett III pbassett@digizen.net WSH David Yowell deyowell@mnsinc.com FCH Erica Page erica@erols.com RMD Roy Britt rbritt@erols.com NEW Joyce Winfree joywood@shentel.net FRB Ken McKneely mckneelys@email.msn.com STF Danny Jessee tornado@tidalwave.net RWL Tom Myers tmyers@salisbury.net WOO Lauck Walton jwalton@shentel.net NPN Gary Leonard garleonard@aol.com -----------------------------------------------------------------------------