Looking back at the month of March we see a period of relatively uneventful weather in the Denver area.  Temperatures were near normal as was the amount of liquid precipitation, this despite the fact we saw well below normal snowfall.

The month started very cold with the first two days failing to record readings above freezing and some light snowfall.  That did not last long however and four mild days followed.  A weak system then moved in with a couple more shots of snow over a three day period.

Entering the second week of the month temperatures moderated and we saw some of our warmest readings of the month.  Light snow on the 12th fell but did not cool things down too much.

• March 2014 top shots: Monthly photo slideshow

Two more very light snowfalls occurred in the last 10 days of the month while temperatures overall remained at or above normal.

Thornton’s average temperature for the month came in at 41.1 degrees, 0.7 degrees above the Denver average for March of 40.4 degrees.  Out at Denver International Airport, the Mile High City saw an average monthly temperature of 40.9 degrees.

Our warmest temperature for the month occurred on the 9th when the mercury climbed to 75.0 degrees.  The coldest reading of 3.8 degrees happened on March 2.  Denver’s warmest and coldest temperatures were on the same days with readings of 73 degrees and 4 degrees.

Two days, the first and the second, saw high temperatures below freezing.  Low temperatures below freezing occurred on 22 of the 31 days.  Denver saw similar readings.

In terms of liquid precipitation, Thornton recorded 1.06 inches.  This was a bit above Denver’s March average of 0.92 inches.  Denver was drier than normal recording 0.83 inches.

The near normal precipitation came despite the fact we saw much less snow than normal.  March is typically our snowiest with an average of 10.7 inches of the white stuff.  Thornton saw a mere 6.5 inches and Denver 6.0 inches.

Click here to view Thornton’s March 2014 climate report.

CLIMATE REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOULDER, CO
725 PM MDT TUE APR 1 2014

..............CORRECTED FOR TYPOS FOR THE FOLLOWING.................
.....TEMPERATURES...SNOWFALL DEPARTURES AND PEAK WIND DIRECTION.....

...................................

...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH 2014...

CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1872 TO 2014

WEATHER         OBSERVED          NORMAL  DEPART  LAST YEAR`S
                 VALUE   DATE(S)  VALUE   FROM    VALUE  DATE(S)
                                          NORMAL
................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
 HIGH              84   03/26/1971
 LOW              -11   03/28/1886
HIGHEST            73   03/09        84     -11       76  03/15
LOWEST              4   03/02       -11      15        2  03/25
AVG. MAXIMUM     55.8              54.4     1.4     50.7
AVG. MINIMUM     25.9              26.4    -0.5     24.6
MEAN             40.9              40.4     0.5     37.7
DAYS MAX >= 90      0               0.0     0.0        0
DAYS MAX <= 32      2               1.9     0.1        3
DAYS MIN <= 32     23              23.6    -0.6       24
DAYS MIN <= 0       0               0.1    -0.1        0 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) 
RECORD
  MAXIMUM         4.56   1983
  MINIMUM         0.03   2012 
TOTALS           0.83              0.92   -0.09     1.47 
DAILY AVG.       0.03              0.03    0.00     0.05 
DAYS >= .01         9               5.9     3.1        6
DAYS >= .10         2               2.4    -0.4        4
DAYS >= .50         0               0.3    -0.3        0
DAYS >= 1.00        0               0.1    -0.1        0
GREATEST
 24 HR. TOTAL    0.32   03/07 TO 03/07           03/22 TO 03/22
                                                          03/22 TO 03/22
                                                          03/22 TO 03/22
 STORM TOTAL       MM                                 MM
 (MM/DD(HH))            MM                    03/22(00) TO 03/22(00)
                                                 03/22(00) TO 03/22(00)2
                                                 03/22(00) TO 03/22(00)2

SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
 TOTAL             MM   5
TOTALS            6.0              10.7

DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL     739               763     -24      840
 SINCE 7/1       5258              5202      56     5112
COOLING TOTAL       0                 0       0        0
 SINCE 1/1          0                 0       0        0

FREEZE DATES
RECORD
 EARLIEST     09/08/1962
 LATEST       06/08/2007
EARLIEST                        10/07
LATEST                          05/05
...................................................

WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED              11.5
RESULTANT WIND SPEED/DIRECTION   3/247
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    45/350    DATE  03/18
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION    55/350    DATE  03/18

SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT)   MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER           0.60
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR            6
NUMBER OF DAYS PC             18
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY          7

AVERAGE RH (PERCENT)     50

WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM              0     MIXED PRECIP               0
HEAVY RAIN                0     RAIN                       2
LIGHT RAIN                3     FREEZING RAIN              0
LT FREEZING RAIN          1     HAIL                       0
HEAVY SNOW                0     SNOW                       6
LIGHT SNOW               10     SLEET                      0
FOG                      12     FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE      5
HAZE                      5

-  INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R  INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T  INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.