Frigid Temperatures in March

Frigid Temperatures in March

 

March may be the most disheartening of all months.  By the time March 1 arrives most of us are looking forward to the arrival of spring, but sometimes winter just keeps hanging on.  One day the temperature may soar into the 60s and 70s (even 80s) only to plunge into the 20s and 30s (even teens) a few days later.  This post is a tribute to these spirit-crushing, winter-like days. 

The month begins, on average, with an average high/low of 45°/31°, rising to 55°/40° by 3/31.  However, about once every two years there is a day or two with high temperatures of 32° or colder.  Since 1960 six have had four or more in March: 1960 (7), 1967 (6), 1978 (6), 1984 (5), 2014 (4), and 2017 (5).    

In the years between 1960 and 2020, the coldest day in March (based on mean temperature) was in 1967.  It's notable not only because of how cold it was (high/low of 20°/10°), but how late in the month it occurred (on the 18th).   And one day later the morning low dropped to 8°.  This is the only single-digit reading in March during this period.  

 

 

The following chart lists the twelve coldest days in March since 1950 (ranked by mean temperature). Eight years are represented: 1950, 1967, 1980, 1989, 1996, 2007, 2009, and 2015. Three of these cold days are from the second half of March 1967, including the coldest March day.

  

 Finally, although it occurred in April, an honorable mention goes to April 7, 1982.  On that day (following a memorable blizzard the day before that dropped nearly 10 inches of snow), the high/low was 30°/21°.  Since 1960, this is the latest date for a sub-freezing high.  And it was thirteen days after March's latest subfreezing temperature - 29° on March 25, 1960.