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Denver Climatological Preview - March 2010 |
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A Preview of Denver's March Weather - Lots of Changes
These changes are due to Marches “in between” status – elements during the month have much in common with winter and spring. In addition to arctic fronts, Pacific storms frequently move across Colorado from the west and warm moist air streams up from the Gulf of Mexico northeastward into the state. When these cold fronts collide with the warmer air masses the result can be some crazy weather. Our March weather calendar has many examples of this changeable weather but one of the most notable occurred on March 8, 1992. The morning saw sunny skies and a high temperature of 52 degrees at midday. By the afternoon though, things changed rapidly as tornadoes and thunderstorms with hail developed across the northeast plains, including the Denver Metro area. This was followed by a Canadian cold front that hit in the late afternoon that caused temperatures to drop and blizzard conditions to set in along the Front Range. By the time it was done, 12.4 inches of snow had fallen at Stapleton International Airport and even higher amounts reported across the greater metro area. More recently, on March 17, 2003 a tornado struck near Bennett when air temperatures were only in the 40’s. Later that day the second strongest winter storm in Denver history began. From March 17th to the 20th 31.8 inches of snow was recorded at Stapleton. A whopping 87.5 inches was recorded near Rollinsville just west of Denver in the foothills. Being a spring storm, this was a very wet storm compared to what we normally receive with an 8 to 1 ratio – i.e. 8 inches of snow yielded 1 inch of moisture. Typically in Colorado we average around a 10 to 1 ratio. March 2003 became the snowiest March in Denver history with 35.2 inches. However we also have seen dry Marches on occasion including 0.3 inches of snow in 1883, 0.4 inches in 1911 and 1.8 inches in 2004. March 2004 became the second driest March in Denver history recording only 0.14 inches of moisture; the driest was in 1908 when only 0.11 inches was measured. As most locals know, March is the snowiest month of the year. However, thanks to the rapid changes we experience, the snow doesn’t usually stick on the ground for long thanks to lots of sunshine and moderate temperatures. March also usually has the first spring thunderstorms and strong Chinook winds do still make their way on a few days, particularly near the foothills. Looking back at March 2009 – A calm month until the end March 2009 was a relatively quiet month for the first few weeks but then that all changed very quickly. Through the 25th of the month a sparse 0.12 inch of precipitation had been recorded at the official measuring site at Denver International Airport. Thornton fared just a bit better up to that point at 0.15 inch recorded. Up until then, the month was looking to be an exceedingly dry one and potentially one that would make the ‘top 10 driest’ March’s on record. Then the March 2009 Blizzard arrived and the picture changed. 7.8 inches of snow was recorded at DIA on the 26th and 0.5 inch on the 27th. The precipitation measurement was 0.63 inch of liquid for the 26th and 0.02 inch on the 27th. Not only did that push the month out of ‘top 10’ contention it broke the 24 hour precipitation recorded set back in 1899. Thornton recorded a bit more snow and precipitation with 11.4 inches recorded over the two days and 0.68 inch precipitation. In the end, the month recorded 13.8 inches of snowfall total – 2.1 inches above the normal of 11.7. Thornton was snowier overall with 17.6 inches of snow. Despite the above normal snowfall for March, the snow season was getting ready to end on a down note with below normal measurements for the year. Through March 31st, Denver on average records 41.3 inches. By that time last year only 30.7 inches had been measured. The overall monthly average temperature of 41.8 degrees was 2.2 degrees above the normal of 39.6. The highest temperature of the month was 78 degrees and the lowest was 10 degrees. Thornton was a touch warmer with an average of 42.8 degrees. Our high was 78.3 degrees and the low was 12 degrees. Three records were set or tied during March 2009. The 74 degree high on the 2nd of the month broke the old record of 72 degrees for that date set in 1901. On the same day, a record high minimum of 47 degrees broke the old record of 44 set in 1925. On the 4th, a high temperature of 76 degrees broke the 137 year old record of 74 degrees set in 1872. Records come with an asterisk: It should be noted that the three records officially recorded for Denver should have an asterisk next to them. The National Weather Service moved the official Denver recording station to DIA in 1995 from its old location at Stapleton. As such, any comparison to years prior to the move in 1995 are not really accurate. For more details on the controversy please visit the related story on the Denver Weather Examiner. Click here to view the March 2009 Climatology Report. March 2010 Outlook For the Denver metro area the Climate Prediction Center 30-day outlook model expects temperatures to be near normal while the precipitation model forecasts above normal precipitation. For More Information Temperature Normals and Extremes for March Monthly Temperature, Rainfall and Snowfall Extremes for March
* Historical weather statistics gathered from the National Weather Service's Denver / Boulder forecast office data archives. |
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March in Denver typically means frequent and rapid weather changes. The days grow longer and we start enjoying more sunshine and sometimes summer-like weather. However, on occasion arctic air masses can still force their way south into Colorado dropping temperatures quickly and markedly. 
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