A Statistical Preview of Denver's March Weather

       ...A STATISTICAL PREVIEW OF DENVER’S MARCH WEATHER...

DENVER'S MONTHLY MEAN TEMPERATURE FOR MARCH IS 40.4 DEGREES (1981-2010 AVERAGES) AND IS DENVER'S 5TH COLDEST MONTH OF THE YEAR BEHIND DECEMBER, JANUARY, FEBRUARY AND NOVEMBER RESPECTIVELY. MARCH STARTS THE MONTH WITH A NORMAL HIGH OF 50 DEGREES AND ENDS WITH A NORMAL HIGH OF 58 DEGREES. FOR LOW TEMPERATURES, THE MONTH BEGINS WITH A NORMAL OF 22 DEGREES AND FINISHES WITH A NORMAL OF 30.

THE WARMEST TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED DURING THE MONTH OF MARCH, SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1872, WAS 84 DEGREES ON THE 26TH DAY OF 1971. MARCH'S COLDEST TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED IN DENVER WAS -11 DEGREES AND OCCURRED ON THE 28TH DAY OF 1886.

MARCH: DENVER'S TOP 10 COLDEST (MEAN TEMPERATURES):

26.4 DEGREES 1912

27.7         1924

29.0         1965

29.7         1906

32.1         1969

32.2         1891

32.8         1958

33.0         1964

33.1         1899

33.2         1917

MARCH: DENVER'S TOP 10 WARMEST (MEAN TEMPERATURES):

50.4 DEGREES 1910

49.2         1912

47.2         1907

47.1         1986

47.0         1918

46.5         1879

46.4         2004

46.4         1946

46.0         2007

46.0         1887

FOR DENVER'S NINE MONTH SNOW PERIOD OF SEPTEMBER THROUGH MAY, MARCH RANKS AS THE SNOWIEST MONTH AND TYPICALLY ACCOUNTS FOR 20 PERCENT OF THE ANNUAL SNOWFALL. DENVER NORMALLY COLLECTS 10.7 INCHES OF SNOW IN MARCH BASED ON AVERAGES FROM OLD STAPLETON INTL AIRPORT (1981-2010 AVERAGES), HOWEVER MARCH IS KNOWN FOR THE BIGGEST SNOWFALL EVENTS TO HIT THE REGION. IN RECENT HISTORY FOR EXAMPLE, MARCH 1992 AND 2003 COME TO MIND FOR MOST. MARCH 1992 BROUGHT TORNADO WARNINGS OVER THE NORTHEASTERN COLORADO PLAINS AS A FAST PACED COLD FRONT ROLLED ACROSS THE PLAINS. THIS AIRMASS COLLISION WAS FOLLOWED BY A WINTER STORM WARNING ALONG THE ENTIRE FRONT RANGE DURING THE EVENING AND INTO THE NEXT DAY AS THE STORM DEVELOPED OVER THE STATE AND MOVED EAST. IN 2003, THE 2ND BIGGEST SNOWFALL IN DENVER WEATHER HISTORY OCCURRED AS A MASSIVE TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE TAPPED INTO GULF MOISTURE. THE AREA OF PRECIPITATION ASSOCIATED WITH THE MULTI DAY SNOW STORM EXTENDED IN A 150-300 MILE WIDE BAND FROM THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE WEST OF DENVER, SOUTHEASTWARD 1200 MILES INTO LOUISIANA.

MARCH: DENVER'S SNOWIEST

35.2 INCHES 2003

32.5        1944

31.3        1891

30.5        1983

29.2        1961

26.8        1959

25.7        1923

25.2        1952

24.8        1929

24.0        1981

ON THE FLIPSIDE OF BIG AND EVENTFUL SNOWSTORMS COUPLED WITH THE ONSET OF THE UNSTABLE CONVECTIVE SEASON, THE END OF THE WINTER CAN OCCASIONALLY EXPERIENCE EXTENDED DROUGHT-LIKE CONDITIONS OVER THE HIGH PLAINS REGION. THESE DRY PERIODS ARE OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH LA NINA PHASES OF THE PACIFIC OCEANIC REGION. THE DRIEST MARCHS USUALLY END THE MONTH WITH ABOVE NORMAL MONTHLY TEMPERATURES MAINLY DUE TO WINDY, CLOUD FREE, DOWNSLOPE WINDY DAYS COMBINED WITH WARMER NIGHT-TIME LOW TEMPERATURES FROM LACK OF LONG LASTING SNOW COVER. THIS WAS THE CASE IN 2012 WHERE DENVER HAD RECORD LOW PRECIPITATION, RECORD LOW SNOWFALL AND A THE SECONDS HIGHEST MONTHLY TEMPERATURE IN 141 YEARS.

MARCH: DENVER'S LEAST SNOWIEST

  T  INCHES 2012

  T         1995

 0.3        1883

 0.4        1911

 0.5        1885

 1.1        1887

 1.8        2004

 2.0        1882

 2.1        1982

 2.1        1908

                    ...THE OUTLOOK FOR MARCH 2016...

AFTER A FEBRUARY WHICH ENDED WELL ABOVE NORMAL FOR TEMPERATURE, THE FIRST WEEK OF MARCH 2016 IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THAT WARM TREND AS A WEAK RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE HOLDS OVER THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. THIS RIDGE, WITH ONLY A FEW WEAK DISTURBANCES IN WEST-NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT, WILL KEEP THE MOUNTAIN REGION MOSTLY DRY. BEYOND THE FIRST 10 DAYS OF MARCH, THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER’S LONG RANGE MODELS INDICATE THE LIKELIHOOD FOR ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION WITH NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES.

                       ...MARCH STATISTICS...

...TEMPERATURES (1981-2010 NORMALS)...

AVERAGE HIGH...........................  54.4

AVERAGE LOW............................  26.4

MONTHLY MEAN...........................  40.4

DAYS WITH HIGH 90 OR ABOVE.............   0

DAYS WITH HIGH 32 OR BELOW.............   2  (1.9)

DAYS WITH LOW 32 OR BELOW..............  24 (23.6)

DAYS WITH LOWS ZERO OR BELOW...........   0  (0.1)

...PRECIPITATION...

MONTHLY MEAN...........................   0.92 INCH

DAYS WITH MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION.....   6  (5.9)

AVERAGE SNOWFALL........................ 10.7 INCHES (SNOWIEST

                                                       MONTH)

...MISCELLANEOUS MARCH AVERAGES...

HEATING DEGREE DAYS....................  763

COOLING DEGREE DAYS....................    0

WIND SPEED (MPH).......................    9.7*

WIND DIRECTION.........................  SOUTH*

DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORMS................    0* (0.3)

DAYS WITH DENSE FOG....................    1* (1.1)

PERCENT OF SUNSHINE....................   69*

(NOTE: SUNSHINE DATA ARE NO LONGER REPORTED AS OF OCTOBER 1, 2009)

* = 1971-2002 NORMALS

...MARCH EXTREMES...

RECORD HIGH............................  84 DEGREES ON 3/26/1971

RECORD LOW............................. -11 DEGREES ON 3/28/1886

WARMEST................................  50.4 DEGREES IN 1910

MAXIMUM/MINIMUM COOLING DEGREES DAYS...  NONE EVER RECORDED

COLDEST................................  26.4 DEGREES IN 1912

MAXIMUM HEATING DEGREE DAYS............  1198 IN 1912

MINIMUM HEATING DEGREE DAYS............   452 IN 1910

WETTEST................................   4.56 INCHES IN 1983

DRIEST.................................   0.11 INCHES IN 1908

WFO BOULDER