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March Madness 03/03/2014 -------> The EURO abides


winterymix

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we kinda get "screwed" with the heaviest staying just north. i don't think i've seen a storm like this since i've been here if it happens this way? im sorta confused by it. 

 

One would have to find the last time a marginal temp storm worked out in favor for DC and the beltway.  Away from the city I think models tend to do very well getting temps right but right near there are some effects that no model can nail down perfectly.

 

Until the runs get all important level temps below 32F there is a legit reason to raise an eyebrow.

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I also agree about tossing climo a bit. There is stout cold available. Putting it to good use can be tricky. I can easily see us not getting the cold in here until the vast majority of the precip is done. Trends today help quell those concerns. No mistaking that. but it's still a d4 event so bad shifts can come just as easy as good ones.

Other than sun angle I'm not overly concerned about climo tho I think it's still a good guide if you look at the coldest we've been this late. Tomorrow might be a good test.
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March 3rd is not really that late..It is still in our window....March 10th and later is late...We have had a number of big events beginning of March...even during the day

for snow.. not really. i think by this time of year you're more likely to get rain or snow as opposed to an ice storm though. 

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March 3rd is not really that late..It is still in our window....March 10th and later is late...We have had a number of big events beginning of March...even during the day

 

Early March 2009 comes to mind offhand as the last impressive cold (for the time of year).  That was the moderate ~5" or so event we got, and DCA remained below freezing for two days on I believe March 2 and 3.

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DC hasn't had more than 7-8" of snow in March since the late 50s, right? Climo.

 

March 1960 was an incredible month with lots of snow and cold and a NESIS 4 KU. In spite of 80s at the end of the month, it was still by far the coldest March on record at DCA (not including pre-DCA).

 

Makes me wonder if this coming March will give it a run for its money.

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I got 7.5" in DC proper

 

Thanks...I couldn't remember exactly offhand what the amount was in that event, though 6" sticks in my mind when I was living in the Capitol Hill neighborhood at the time.  I thought DCA most likely got less (per usual), so I guessed 5"!  At any rate, it was an impressively cold couple of days right after that for the beginning of March.

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8.7 in 98-99, 8.3 in 77-78. For anything bigger you have to go back to 59-60.

 

Even though DCA got "only" 6.6" from the 1993 Superstorm, most areas (I think?) got closer to a foot especially farther out.  Now combining that with the obvious intensity of that storm, well, you'd have to put that one way up there on the list.

 

ETA:  I believe it was also very cold for a few days right after as well, quite amazing for mid-March.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/what-is-washington-dcs-weather-like-in-march-breaking-down-norms-and-extremes/2012/03/11/gIQAqgDJ7R_blog.html

 

 

 

climo_mar_year_snow.gif?uuid=tyopqGujEeG
Monthly snowfall (in inches) by year in Washington, D.C. from 1888-2011. See sources for data.

Normal March snowfall in D.C. is 1.3”, this is down 0.4” since the last 30-year climate average. In recent years (back through the 2000s), March snow has been hit-or-miss. It occurs about every other year on average with most instances quite low as far as accumulation goes.

About 150 accumulating snow events, including those which were primarily rain but had some snow stick, have occurred in March since records began in the late 1880s. 33 percent of those events reached accumulation of at least 3”. As recently as March 2009, an event dropped 5.5” of snow on the first days of the month.

climo_mar_top_snow.gif?uuid=tsigNGujEeGJ
The top 10 accumulation events in March at Washington, D.C. Numbers are in inches of snowfall.
Two snow events at D.C. have reached right around one foot of snow. One hit it on the nose on the 27th into the 28th in 1891. The other holds the daily record for March at 11.5”, and it happened on the 29th in 1942. Nine other days have witnessed 6” or more snow, most recently March 9, 1999.

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Oh, I get that the 'burbs can get bigger. DCA? Yeah, not so much.

Even though DCA got "only" 6.6" from the 1993 Superstorm, most areas (I think?) got closer to a foot especially farther out.  Now combining that with the obvious intensity of that storm, well, you'd have to put that one way up there on the list.

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