Weather Column: How unusual is a March with no snow?

Yes, we passed through the entire month of March without seeing a single flake of snow. It has happened before, and in looking back in the records, I have the following years in which no recorded snow has fallen during the month of March:

1946: a trace – less than 0.01 of an inch

1954: a trace – less than 0.01 of an inch

1966: a trace – less than 0.01 of an inch

1971: a trace – less than 0.01 of an inch

1972: a trace – less than 0.01 of an inch

1979: a trace – less than 0.01 of an inch

1983: 0.0

1986: a trace – less than 0.01 of an inch

1995: a trace – less than 0.01 of an inch

2002: a trace – less than 0.01 of an inch

2008: 0.0

2012: 0.0

Warmest day this March was 70 degrees on the 21st and 22nd. Coldest was 23 degrees on the 6th and 11th. It was freezing or lower on 9 nights.

As the winters come and go, I feel that many of us think and realize that we are in a warming climate trend. Yes, our years are warmer and we are going to have warmer years in the future. They are the slow but inevitable change that is taking over in our present day world. So, if we have excellent ice-skating next winter, you may ask, where is that warming trend that weatherman was writing about?

Yes, it will take years to change in the long run, but change it will. Our ocean is warmer and rising, wait and see. Waterfront homes? Many of us will have to just wait and watch the natural slow changing weather. Will we have a high of 80 degrees in April?

Your observer thinks so. Have to wait and see.

Rain for March was very scarce. I do not know why, but such is the weather. We need warmer days early, for good summer growth in all plant life, and much more rain to keep our sandy loam Long Island soil moist. Total rainfall for March was 1.28 inches, which is close to 2 inches lower than the long-term amount.

We had considerable fog on five days during the third week in March.

The pattern of filling the barn with ice from the pond is no more. We can make ice any month or day with electric.

There were westerly winds on 17 days during our past month. Recorded were 19 clear, 3 partly cloudy, and 9 cloudy days. We hope spring rains will give us ample soil moisture to help plants through the summer.

April’s warmer weather should give us ample rains, some fog and more southerly breezes.