March 2011 finished with an average temperature of 20.5 degrees, 6.7 degrees below average.
If it was not for the week of mild temperatures in the middle of the month, March would have likely finished as a top 10 coldest month on record, as 15 days of the month recorded temperatures more than 10 degrees below normal. It was those 15 days that gave the month the perception of being much colder than the final statistics would suggest.
Last month was our third-straight March with above-average precipitation, finishing with 1.84 inches of rain and melted snow, well above the average of 1.17 inches. That ranked March 2011 as the 15th-wettest March on record.
The 16.7 inches of snow that fell was the sixth-highest total on record for the month of March. Although it was a wet and snowy month, it was nowhere near the records set in 2009, when 28.1 inches of snow and 4.62 inches of rain were recorded.
Have a weather question you'd like answered? Email weather@wday.com ,
ADVERTISEMENT
or write to WDAY Stormtracker, WDAY-TV, Box 2466, Fargo, ND 58108
Read the blog at http://stormtrack.areavoices.com/ .