When Will The Real March Weather Show Up?
DENVER (CBS4) - March is a month of transition with a split personality. Bouts of winter-like weather can be interlaced with early tastes of spring and everything in between.
On average March can be a powerhouse for snow making. Typically, the month is Denver's snowiest on average with a normal snowfall of 10.7 inches.
This reputation was very evident in 2003 when a strong cold front began blasting into the state, producing severe thunderstorms on March 17 of that year. A tornado was reported near Bennett east of Denver.
As the day continued rain changed over to snow and Denver wound up with 35.2 inches of snow before the storm was done. That made it the biggest March snowfall ever in Denver and the second strongest winter storm overall for the Mile High City.
That storm was so strong it also, dumped 87.5 inches near the foothill town of Rollinsville!
March also is the month where we start to see the thunderstorm season get up and running. A lot of the more notable March thunderstorms tend to fire up as a winter cold front is pushing through the central Rockies. Some of these storms can be severe and then be followed up by a big, wet, snow storm in just a few hours.
This scenario also happened on March 8, 1992, when a cold front oozed in over the state, first lifting thunderstorms to severe levels producing hailstorms and tornadoes from the Denver metro area out across the eastern plains and then dropping over a foot of snow over the Front Range as the cold air and moisture squeezed in over the central Rockies.
This year has been so dry the hope is that even a near normal March would be a great help to keep the fire danger low.
NOAA's Climate Prediction Center has the state of Colorado above normal for precipitation for the remainder of March. Lets hope El Nino and March come together to get some moisture going.
In the short-term there will be snow pushing into the mountains on Sunday and Monday, with a good chance for a few scattered rain showers for Denver and the eastern plains on Monday.
Meteorologist Dave Aguilera is a Colorado native and has been forecasting weather in the Rocky Mountain region for over 25 years! Connect with Dave on Facebook and on Twitter @DaveAgCBS.
