MONTHLY SUMMARY: MARCH 1999 UPDATED: 5/2/99 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ...LATE WINTER SNOWS OVER THE EXTREME NORTHERN SECTIONS... ...NEAR TO ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL & COOL TEMPERATURES OVER NORTHERN VIRGINIA... ...COOLER AND DRIER OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA... Dave Lesher is getting settled in at Canaan Heights, West Virginia and submitted his first data form. While he hasn't begun recording precipitation yet, he was able to send his temperature data for the month of March. Looks like we'll be seeing an abundance of sub-zero winter temps in the future as his minimum temp was a -3.4 degrees below zero! And that came in a rather average month!! Of course, he'll have lot of interesting temp extremes since his site is 3,698 feet above sea level. His data will be placed in the nearby stations section along with Tri-cities/Bristol. The North Carolina "Tornadocane" On the evening of April 15, 1999, one of the most bizarre and unusual supercell thunderstorms ever observed roared across southeastern North Carolina. It produced several damaging tornadoes, one killer tornado, non-tornadic wind damage reports, and a measured gust to 165 mph. While this report will be highlighted in the April '99 ACON [VA/NC/SC] summary, thought, for those of you who have the Internet, you'd like to preview the article at: http://www.intellicast.com/drdew/library/spring99_tornadocane_199904/ The Weather Station from Stafford Danny Jessee has recreated his weather site and it is now called The Weather Station. You can check it out at: http://all.at/weather There's a link to it from the ACON - VA/NC/SC home page. His new email address is posted at the end of the notes section. NOTES FROM "AROUND THE LEAGUE"- Annandale - March was cooler than average, the coolest since 1996. Total precipitation was near average. The mean temperature was 1.87 degrees below normal. Only one day had a temp >=75 while a year ago there were 13 such days. The total snowfall for the month was the 2nd greatest on record; only 1993 had more snow, 14.3" This was the 1st March on record with 4 days having snow greater than a trace. 9 days had measurable snow on the ground, the most since 1993 in March. The 10.2" snow on the 9th was the 8th largest snow ever recorded in a calendar day in Lowell's 19-year record. The 51 MPH wind on the 4th occurred at 1127 from the west-northwest and was the 3rd highest wind on record here. The 30.70" barometric reading was the highest in March since 1996 and the 29.21" barometric reading on the 3rd was the lowest during March since 1996. The month featured the "clearest" skies since 1995. Arlington - Dewey Walston reports from WBC that the 8.4" of snow on March 9th broke the old daily snowfall record of 3.2" set in 1960. March 1999 was wet and cold...typical of La Nina years in this area. With below normal temperatures, March 1999 breaks the string of above normal temperatures that have occurred the past seven months (since July of 1998). A snowstorm hit the area on the 9th with over 8" in Washington, DC. This was the biggest daily snowfall in Washington in 3 years. The last time more snow fell on a single day was back on January 7, 1996 when 13.0" fell. The monthly average temperature was 2.7 degrees below normal while snowfall was 7.1" above the norm and rainfall totals were 7/10ths inch above normal. Year-to-date rainfall is some 3.24" above normal. Bridgewater - Clayton offers these thoughts about March: The average temperature for March was 1.3 degrees below normal. Up until this month, there had been 15 consecutive months with average temperatures below normal. The last month with a below temperature was November, 1997. The snowfall this past month tied with March, 1994, as the second snowiest March in 35 years which is the extent of my records. The total snowfall for this past winter was 23.5 inches which is just about normal. The biggest surprise for the month and also for the winter came on the morning of the 15th. An unexpected heavy snow fell during the early morning hours with an accumulation of 7 inches. The precipitation for the month was just about normal. As promised last month, here's an account from Clayton of the surprise snowstorm in Bridgewater on March 14-15th: "Sunday, we had the possibility of a foot of snow or more. We only got 2.5 inches. I was disappointed and a little on the grumpy side. I was braced for a huge snowstorm. What a let-down! Sunday night there were indications we might get a little snow, maybe 1 to 3 inches with the possibility of snow mixed with rain. When I went to bed, it was sleeting and no sign of snow. I gave up on the snow, and didn't bother during the night to get up and check on things. When I got up Monday morning I couldn't believe what I saw. A large blanket of snow covered everything and still snowing heavily. We ended up with 7 inches. For the two days, we got 9.5 inches. I guess this proves that you can't give up on March when it comes to snow. Already this month we have had 14.5 inches. Some of our big storms in the past have come in March. My normal snowfall for a winter is around 23 inches. Already we have 23.5 inches, thanks to March. We still have a month to go when snow could come. My cut-off date for any measurable snow is April 15. However, the chances of any snow after March 15 is a little slim. Snow can come in April, but it doesn't happen very often." Centreville - Paul notes his Boltec lightning detector is up and running but he doesn't plan on using it anywhere near an electronic light dimmer using SCR circuitry. The dimmer impulse will radiate into the Storm Watcher transmission line causing the system to go "nuts" while warning the family to duck 'n' cover!! Centreville experienced a nice snow on the 9th, but it sure was a "grueling" day on the 14th when we had a real mixed bag with temps in the low to mid 30s all day. Dulles - NWS Baltimore/Washington noted a monthly average temperature some 1.8 degrees below normal while rainfall for the month was 0.27" in excess of the norm and year-to-date precip was 2.86" above normal. Falls Church - Erica reports average snowfall for the month. This is one of the top 10 snowiest Marches for this site. Our rainfall was below average but not by much. March 9th was the date of the big snowstorm that dropped a whopping 8.5" in Falls Church. Temperatures were below average. The month was also the month of the blue moon which occurred on the 31st. Fredericksburg - According to Ken, precipitation was above normal, temperatures were up and down. March 9th brought our heaviest snow in some time with about 4.5". The original forecast that day called for only a dusting. One week later Ken noted temps around 80 degrees! Hampton - Dave notes March was very close to norms for the month. Monthly mean temps were 1 degree below normal while precip was 1" below normal. A new record high was set on the 18th when the temp reached 79. A brief snow did occur on the morning of the 9th and there were some accumulations on highways as temperatures remained in the upper 20s. A strong disturbance crossed the area on the evening of the 3rd. Wind gusts to 59 MPH occurred in thunderstorms at that time. "Glad to see AKQ taking over the responsibilities for the local forecasts." Herndon - Russ' March notes: March is turning out to be the month for snowstorms in Northern Virginia in the 1990s. After a quiet December, January and February we had back to back storms on the 9th and the 14th which tripled our season snowfall total. The monthly temperature averaged 1.6 degrees below normal. New Market - Joyce says the month has been colder than normal while temperature sure has had ups and downs. Norfolk - NWS AKQ (Wakefield) reported Norfolk Airport's average monthly temperature was 1.0 degree below normal. Precip was 0.41" below normal. The year-to-date rainfall is 1.82" below the norm. The average wind speed here was 11.1 MPH. Portsmouth - The month was cooler and drier than normal. Rainfall was 1.01" below normal or 76% of the normal). At the end of the month, year-to-date rainfall was some 3.42" in deficiency, or only 71% of the norm. The mean monthly temperature was 2.0 degrees below normal. 4 new station records were established: on the 3rd a new station high max temp of 74 was recorded while a 54 MPH from the south set a new station daily peak wind gust; new station daily minimum max temps were set on the 26th and 27th with 47 and 43 readings, respectively. Snowfall was noted on 3 days but only one produced a measurable total of a trace on the 9th. This is incomparable to the 14" recorded in the blizzard event of March 1980 when the month ended an unusually snowy winter with over 42 inches of snow total! Richmond - At his station, Roy noted a light dusting of snow on the ground at 9 AM on the 9th which melted very quickly. Again in the 15th there was a brief change of rain to snow as the precip ended. (Please note the article and pictures within on the March 3rd tornado in Dinwiddie County. Thanks Roy!!) Richmond - The mean temp was 2.8 degrees below normal while precip was 0.43" above normal. The average wind speed was 10.1 MPH. - from NWS Wakefield (AKQ) Mechanicsville - Thunderstorms moved through the area on the 3rd and 4th. Rain mixed with sleet and snow and changed to all-rain through the afternoon on the 14th, with a heavy thunderstorm noted around 2030 hours. - notes from Glenn Roanoke - Wendell reported his first month with below normal temperatures since December of 1997. (-3.4 degrees) Rainfall was 0.93" below normal while snowfall was 1.3" above normal in 3 minor storms. Stafford - Danny remarks: Finally, a month with measurable snowfall (6.00" on the 9th-10th)! Our season total is now more appreciable, but still well below normal; Temperatures were near average for the month, with two distinct warm spells in mid-March and at the end of the month; well-above average precipitation, we now have 144% of our normal year-to-date total. Vienna - Robert reports: March was slightly below normal for temperatures (-1.4 degrees) reversing the trend of the first three months of the year. Precipitation was about 91% of the norm. The big story of the month was snowfall. His total of 13.5" (compared to a normal of 2.9") was second only to March 1993 with 15.5". The 10.3" which fell on the 9th was second only to 12.0" recorded on March 14, 1993. Smaller amounts of snow noted on the 14th and 15th boosted the monthly total even further. No temperature extremes were recorded. March produced 5 maximum temps 70 degrees or higher and ended on a warm note with 75 degrees on the 31st. Thunder was observed only once on the 3rd. Sleet was observed only with the snowfall of the 14h. Woodstock - Lauck reports the month was a cold one; the third coldest in 14 years!! Precipitation was average but a lot of it in snow. 10 days with and inch or more of snow on the ground. Asheville - The average monthly temperature was 4.5 degrees below normal and the precip total was 1.81" below normal. Monthly average wind speed was 4.2 mph. Brevard - Bob sends these remarks: March was slightly on the cool side; the mean high, 57.5 deg. F, was 2.5 deg. below the avg. for the previous 9 Februaries while the mean low was about 4 deg. below the 9 year average. Heating requirements for the month were only exceeded twice in the last 9 years, in 1993, and 1996. The 4.76 inches if rain recorded was 2 1/4 inches below normal for the month. Four inches of snow were recorded. Charlotte - NWS GSP reported the monthly average temp was 3.1 degrees below normal while total precip was 3.12" below normal. The average wind speed was 6.9 MPH. Greensboro - The average temp for the month was 3.3 degrees below normal while precip was 1.76" below normal. - from NWS RDU Raleigh - Bob Woodson reports his 1st month since April 1998 with below normal temperatures. Had a threat of wintry precip two times but it did not materialize. So the season ends with just a trace of snow while rainfall totals were .33" in excess of the norm. For the year, rainfall is 1.94" above normal. Visit Bob' Internet site at: http://www.qsl.net/kfymmm Raleigh - The average temp for the month was 2.9 degrees below normal while rainfall was 0.08" below normal. A daily record high temp was tied on the 18th. - source: NWS RDU Roxboro - March was quite windy but drier and cooler than normal. Not much excitement for snowfall here this winter. - notes from Merriell Wilmington - NWS ILM notes: After 14 straight months of above normal temperatures, Wilmington finally had a cool month this March. The monthly average temperature was 2.6 degrees below normal. No temp records were broken or tied as were no precip records. The month did continue on the dry side but it was a little closer to normal than last month. The normal possible sunshine for the month is 64%; but this month saw 79% of possible sunshine. The average wind speed was 9.0 MPH. Columbia - The average temperature for the month was 3.7 degrees below normal while rainfall was 2.46" below normal. - from NWS CAE Charleston - Notes from Eleanor: Charleston's monthly average temp was 3.1 degrees below normal. The average wind speed was 9.3 MPH. No frozen precip was recorded. Precipitation was also below normal, some 2.19". The year-to-date precip is 1.97 inches below the norm. Greenville-Spartanburg - NWS GSP noted the average monthly temp was 3.1 degrees below normal while rainfall was 3.06" below normal. The average monthly wind speed was 7.6 MPH. Ruby - March was fairly dry and warm, especially in the latter half. (note from Franklin) Tri-cities - NWS Morristown, TN reports that the Tri-cities/Bristol area recorded monthly average temps 4.5 degrees below normal with precipitation some 1.30" below normal. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATED MEMBERS' E-MAIL ADDRESSES: 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 runamok@runamok.com FCH Erica Page ERICA96661@aol.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 WOO Lauck Walton jwalton@shentel.net NPN Gary Leonard garleonard@aol.com LKU Joe Bowers jmbiii@mnsinc.com CHS Eleanor Vallier-Talbot Eleanor.Vallier-Talbot@noaa.gov evaltal@wpmedia.com HAM Dave Kessell tccdkessel@yahoo.com VNA Robert Boott boottr@vrinet.com CHW Dave Lesher wxdave@boo.net -----------------------------------------------------------------------------