The month of March was relatively uneventful and lacked any sort of real weather drama. What was notable was the dry conditions and unseasonably warm temperatures that dominated for the most part.
March started out considerably colder than normal with the first five days of the month seeing temperatures around 20 degrees below normal. A light shot of snow was recorded on the fourth of the month, a reading that would be our biggest snowfall for the period.
Temperatures began to turn warmer on the sixth with above normal readings recorded through the 16th of the month. We even managed two 80+ degree days on the 15th and 16th.
Denver actually saw its earliest 80 degree reading in history on the 16th. The previous earliest 80 degree reading occurred on March 18, 1907.
Unsettled conditions interrupted the warmth on the 25th with a light snowfall and colder temperatures.
We then bounced right back to the dry, mild conditions for the balance of the month.
Thornton’s average temperature for the month came in at 44.9 degrees. This was well above the long term Denver average of 40.4 degrees. Out at DIA, the Mile High City’s reading was very similar at 45.0 degrees.
Temperatures in Thornton ranged from a high of 82.6 degrees on the 16th down to a low of 9.2 degrees on the 5th of the month. At the airport, Denver’s maximum for the month of 81 degrees came on the 16th with its lowest of 2 degrees on the 5th.
Denver officially broke two temperature records in March 2015. On March 6th the high temperature of 79 degrees broke the record high for the date (previously 76 degrees set in 2013). Also, on the 16th, the high temperature reading of 81 degrees was a record (previously 75 degrees in 2012).
In terms of precipitation, the rain bucket totals fell well short of the March average of 0.92 inch. Here in Thornton a mere 0.49 inches was recorded while Denver saw quite a bit more with a measurement of 0.79 inches.
March is historically our snowiest month but that was certainly not the case in 2015. Thornton snowfall totally only 2.8 inches and Denver was at 2.9 inches. Both were well below the average of 10.7 inches.
Click here to view Thornton’s March 2015 climate report.
CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOULDER, CO
633 AM MDT WED APR 1 2015
...................................
...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH 2015...
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1872 TO 2015
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 81 03/16/2015 73 03/09
LOWEST 2 03/05/2015 4 03/02
AVG. MAXIMUM 58.9 54.4 4.5 55.8
AVG. MINIMUM 31.2 26.4 4.8 25.9
MEAN 45.0 40.4 4.6 40.9
DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MAX <= 32 2 1.9 0.1 2
DAYS MIN <= 32 12 23.6 -11.6 23
DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.1 -0.1 0
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
MAXIMUM 4.56 1983
MINIMUM 0.03 2012
TOTALS 0.79 0.92 -0.13 0.83
DAILY AVG. 0.03 0.03 0.00 0.03
DAYS >= .01 5 5.9 -0.9 9
DAYS >= .10 3 2.4 0.6 2
DAYS >= .50 0 0.3 -0.3 0
DAYS >= 1.00 0 0.1 -0.1 0
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL 0.34 03/19 TO 03/19
SNOWFALL (INCHES)
TOTALS 2.9 10.7
DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 611 763 -152 739
SINCE 7/1 4724 5202 -478 5258
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
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WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED 9.9
RESULTANT WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 3/198
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 36/260 DATE 03/23
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 45/260 DATE 03/23
SKY COVER
AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.50
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 12
NUMBER OF DAYS PC 12
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 7
AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 51
WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM 0 MIXED PRECIP 0
HEAVY RAIN 0 RAIN 1
LIGHT RAIN 5 FREEZING RAIN 0
LT FREEZING RAIN 0 HAIL 0
HEAVY SNOW 0 SNOW 4
LIGHT SNOW 3 SLEET 0
FOG 7 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 4
HAZE 4
- INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.