Next Tuesday we flip the calendar to not only March but to the start of meteorological spring. While we can swing between some mild days and some cold one’s daylight is getting longer and here in Grand Rapids we gain 1hr and 31m of daylight in the next 31 days of (March). With start of daylight savings time the sunset starts out at 6:32 on the 1st and ends the month at 8:07PM. In March the average H/L starts out on the 1st at 38.2/22.7° it is up to 44.0/26.5 by the 15th and by the 31st it is up to 51.0/31.5. The average March has around 7.6” of snow fall. The average last 2” snow fall is on March 8th and the average last 1” snow fall is on March 22nd but remember snow can fall as late as mid-April or later and has fallen even in May.
The average meteorological spring mean at Grand Rapids is 47.5° the warmest was 54.1° in 2012. The reported coldest was 41.7 in 1890. More recently the spring of 1950 had a mean of 42.1° and the spring of 1997 had a mean of 43.1°. On average there is 9.6” of snow in the spring season the most snow for any meteorological spring is the 41.4” that fell in 1965. The least snow was a trace that has fallen in several springs in the past. Last year 0.3” of snow fell. The longest running records for snow fall are in the spring months. For March the record of 36.0” goes back to 1965. April record of 15.6” goes back to 1961 and May’s record of 5.5” goes back to 1902 and 1923. On average there is a total of 10.38” of rain and melted snow in spring the wettest is the 16.37” that fell in the spring of 1976. The reported driest is the 3.54” that fell in 1887. Last year was one of the driest years with just 5.34”
For March the average mean is 35.7° Of course the warmest was the 50.7 in 2012 the coldest was 23.9 in 1960. Last year the mean was 41.2 and that is the 8th warmest at Grand Rapids. The most snow to all in any March is 36.0” that fell in March of 1965. In March of 1910 no snow fell that March. Last year is in 2nd place for the least amount of snow fall with just a trace. As for the most amount of snow on the ground the most is 20” in 2014, in 2nd place is 15” reported in both March of 2007 and 1965. The snow on the ground in 2014 was mostly left-over snow from February. There were good sized snow storms in both 2007 and 1965. The biggest one-day snowstorm in March is the 13.6” that fell on March 2nd 2002. The wettest March at Grand Rapids is the 5.77” that fell in 1948 and the driest is 0.08” in 1910. Last year 1.51” fell.
So it is time to see how March and meteorological spring of 2022 will play out.
Slim
I just heard next weekend temps will be between 50 & 60 degrees!! Welcome Spring!
+10000000
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Great post Slim. Today looks like a beautiful Spring day and even feels like it when you are driving in the car. The sun feels so nice. I can’t wait for all my flowers to come up and longer days. I hope you all are enjoying the day whatever you are doing.
Fun fact. Starting on February 19th most days have had record highs of 60 or better. But on March 1st the record high is only 58. The 1st of March is the only day in March that has not gotten to 60 or better and is the last day in the year that has not gotten to 60 or better at Grand Rapids until December 9th. Note that I am talking about all time record highs for the date.
Slim
We will have to keep and eye in the storm system for next week. Lots of spread in the models in regards to that one. Interesting to note the GFS shows the low pressure all the way north up to Lake Superior. That would draw up a huge surge of warm air and probably thunderstorms for us. However the euro shows it much farther south and I believe a little earlier timing. We shall see how things evolve.
That is always the case as we head into spring. There can be a huge day to day swings and not always to the good.
Slim
Forget Spring and we have three more weeks of winter left! Get ready for another possible snowstorm the end of next week! It just keeps coming and coming! Incredible!
Around a half inch of new snow fall overnight here and there is now 2″ of snow on the ground. before last nights snow fall the total for the season at Grand Rapids was 64.3″ The overnight low here was 20 and at this time it is partly cloudy and 22.
Slim
Based on the trusted wood tv 8 radar, I see the snow just keeps coming and piling up downstate! What a winter and what a month! Just another above average snowfall and below average temp month! It does not get better than that! This really has been a fantastic winter for outdoor winter sports, so get outside and enjoy another perfect weekend! Wow, just wow!!!!!!!!!!