The month of March started off pretty slow with little weather drama and dry conditions. That changed as we got close to the latter half of the month with precipitation in the form of rain and snow taking over.
Through the first 12 days of the month, we had only received 0.6 inches of snow. We had seen a few days of colder temperatures but generally, mercury readings were above average.
That changed on the 13th. A powerful storm system with an unusual setup arrived. We began with a healthy dose of rain in the evening and then, overnight, the change to snow occurred. Heavy, wet snow fell on the 14th throughout the day and into the evening. Schools and many businesses closed down for the day. Thornton saw 10.8 inches of snow and a whopping 1.73 inches of liquid precipitation.
We then strung together nine days of calm, dry conditions. On the 25th, snow returned although it wasn’t anything too dramatic. Thornton saw 4.4 inches of the white stuff. The month then closed out with temperatures not far from average.
Overall, Thornton saw a monthly average temperature of 42.4 degrees. This was just above our running 18 year average of 42.0 degrees for the month of March. Mercury readings ranged from a high of 71.8 degrees on the 2nd down to 16.8 degrees pm the 26th.
For the Mile High City, where Denver’s official records are taken, they saw an average of 41.4 degrees. That was just slightly cooler than their long term March average of 41.2 degrees.
Liquid precipitation was abundant for the month with Thornton seeing 2.32 inches, most of which came with the storm on the 13th and 14th. This was well above our March average of 1.30 inches.
Denver recorded 1.65 inches in their rain bucket. This too was well above their March average of 0.86 inches.
Snowfall was above average as well. Thornton saw 15.8 inches in March 2024. This easily bested our March average of 11.3 inches.
Our at the airport, Denver saw a mere 9.2 inches. This was a bit above the Mile High City’s long term average for March of 8.8 inches.
Click here to view Thornton’s complete March 2024 climate summary report.
