New York Weather History: March (1869-2021)
March Highlights: The Superstorm of 1993 (aka "Storm of the Century") dumped 10 inches of snow on March 13; three years earlier on the same date the high was 85°, the City's earliest 80-degree reading on record; a five-day heat wave at the end of March 1986 saw each day with highs in the mid-80s; the nor'easter of March 13, 2010 delivered Central Park's greatest one-day rainfall ever for the month of March; in addition to this storm, other famous March nor'easters struck in 1980, 1984, 1997 and 2001 and 2010 (on March 30); March 2012 was the second mildest on record; March 2014 was the coldest in 30 years, but just 0.1" of snow fell; March 2015 was the snowiest since 1956.
March 2019 experienced both 10+ inches of snow and a reading of 75°+. when was the last time New York had a March like this?
Posted by: William | 03/16/2019 at 07:21 PM
This is the sixth March with more than 10" of snow and a day with a high in the 70s. And while this March had the warmest reading, it had the smallest amount of snow. Interestingly, each of the March's had a different reading in the 70s: 70 degrees in 1960 (18.5" of snow); 71 in 1890 (17"); 72 in 1967 (17.4"); 73 in 1914 (21.5"); 74 in 1907 (13.3"); and 75 in 2019 (10.4", thru 3/18). Most of March 1967's snow fell after the reading in the 70s, and a little more than half of March 1890's amount fell after its reading in the 70s.
Posted by: Rob | 03/18/2019 at 11:41 AM
2021 was the first March since 2012 that the NWS issued a red flag warning for the NYC area. Not only is April the most common month for the NWS to issue a red flag warning for the NYC area, but one April in particular (2012), had red flag warnings issued on seven different occasions. Interestingly, April is, by far, the least likely month to be the driest of a year, as this has only happened in five calendar years.
https://twitter.com/KathrynProciv/status/1371408914084941826
Posted by: William | 03/15/2021 at 06:57 PM
March 2021 had no measurable snow. this was in contrast to the previous month, which had over two feet of snow. this came one year after March 2020 also had no measurable snow. this joined 1945 and 1946 as the only two instances of consecutive Marches with no measurable snow. four of the five Marches that preceded 2020 each had at least 9.7” of snow.
Posted by: William | 03/19/2021 at 05:50 PM
the Marches of 2020 and 2021 had a monthly average mean temp of 48.0° and 45.8° respectively. this was the first time consecutive Marches had a monthly average mean temp of at least 45.0° since 1985 (45.8°), 1986 and 1987 (both were at 45.1°).
Posted by: William | 04/01/2021 at 06:45 AM
William, you have a great observation about the red flag warnings, and I will explain the reason for these red flag warnings. All the days that I know of in which red flag warnings were issued (like those in April 2012 and March 2021) were completely sunny days with exceptionally low humidity (15-35 percent) and a considerable amount of wind. This combination of low humidity and wind has the potential to start a fire.
Posted by: Henry | 04/01/2021 at 07:21 PM