The month was one largely bereft of any true weather drama. It started out quite warm and dry and while we chilled out and got wetter for the second half, there were no significant events of note.
The first couple of weeks of March were notable for their largely warmer than normal temperatures and their lack of precipitation. It wasn’t until the 15th when we finally saw some moisture.
The latter half of the month did turn largely cooler although there was a period from the 21st to the 25th with unseasonably warm mercury readings. Beyond that, things remained cool and we received a few, minor shots of snow and rain.
In the end, the average temperatures for the month were above normal and while snowfall was less than normal, we recorded above average levels of precipitation.
The overall average temperature in Thornton for the month was 42.6 degrees. This was a good bit above Denver’s long term average for the month of 40.4 degrees. In the Mile High City at Denver International Airport where official measurements are kept, a similar average of 42.7 degrees was seen.
Temperatures in Thornton ranged from a maximum of 74.2 degrees on the 22nd down to a low of 16.6 degrees on the 7th. At DIA, the warmest reading was 73 degrees and the coldest 13 degrees, both on the same days as our warmest / coldest readings.
In terms of precipitation, Thornton saw 1.25 inches of liquid precipitation. Denver lagged us with 1.02 inches. Both measurements, however, were above the March long term average of 0.92 inches.
March is usually one of our snowier months with an average of 10.7 inches recorded during the month. We fell a long ways short of that however with Thornton seeing 6.2 inches of the white stuff and Denver only 4.8 inches.
Click here to view Thornton’s March 2018 climate report.
CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO
840 AM MDT SUN APR 1 2018
...................................
...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH 2018...
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1872 TO 2018
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 03/22 84 -11 81 03/18
LOWEST 13 03/07 -11 24 14 03/01
AVG. MAXIMUM 58.5 54.4 4.1 64.0
AVG. MINIMUM 26.8 26.4 0.4 31.9
MEAN 42.7 40.4 2.3 47.9
DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MAX <= 32 0 1.9 -1.9 0
DAYS MIN <= 32 27 23.6 3.4 16
DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.1 -0.1 0
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
MAXIMUM 4.56 1983
MINIMUM 0.03 2012
TOTALS 1.02 0.92 0.10 0.90
DAILY AVG. 0.03 0.03 0.00 0.03
DAYS >= .01 6 5.9 0.1 6
DAYS >= .10 3 2.4 0.6 3
DAYS >= .50 0 0.3 -0.3 0
DAYS >= 1.00 0 0.1 -0.1 0
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL 0.33 03/18 TO 03/18 03/24 TO 03/24
OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S
SNOWFALL (INCHES)
TOTALS 4.8 10.7
DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 684 763 -79 523
SINCE 7/1 4741 5202 -461 4325
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 11.5
RESULTANT WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 2/218
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 46/280 DATE 03/05
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 64/290 DATE 03/23
SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.50
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 8
NUMBER OF DAYS PC 22
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 1
AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 46
WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORMS 1 MIXED PRECIP 2
HEAVY RAIN 0 RAIN 5
LIGHT RAIN 5 FREEZING RAIN 0
LT FREEZING RAIN 0 HAIL 0
HEAVY SNOW 2 SNOW 4
LIGHT SNOW 7 FOG W/VIS <=1/4 MILE 2
FOG 7 HAZE 1
- INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.