Weather Whiplash: U.S. Cold Records Crush Heat Records 6.5 to 1 in April

One year after heat records smashed cold records by a ratio of over 35 to 1, preliminary data from the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) show that new daily low temperature records in the U.S. outnumbered high temperature records by 6.5 to 1 in April. This was the largest monthly excess of cold records so far this decade. It was also the first time since at least February 2010 that more than 2 consecutive months have had more cold records than heat records.

For the spring season to date (March-April), cold records have exceeded heat records by a ratio of 4 to 1, and for 2013 to date, the ratio is 1.6 to 1. On the other hand, for the 12 consecutive months ending in April, heat records continue to outpace cold records by a ratio of 1.8 to 1. Cumulatively, the ratio of heat records to cold records is 2.8 to 1 since January 2010, well above the roughly 2 to 1 in previous decades. As the chart shows, the 2600 cold records in April barely made a dent in the cumulative excess of 36000 heat records since the beginning of the decade.

Preliminary data from NOAA/ESRL show that the coldest temperatures relative to average were in the North Central portion of the U.S. in April. The Pacific Coast states, however, were warmer than average, and near to above average temperatures prevailed over most of the eastern third of the country.

Washington Has Latest Occurrence of First 75° Temperature*

* since 2001

5:30 PM Update: The preliminary high for the day was 79° at 3 pm EDT.

Original Post:
With a noon temperature of 70°, Washington is well on its way to the first 75° or higher temperature of the year by this afternoon, or at least by tomorrow. This will be the latest occurrence of the first 75° temperature . . . since 2001, when this temperature was reached on April 9. The latest occurrence on record at the current observation location was on April 26, 1984. The average date for the first 75° temperature since 1930 is March 16.

Washington Fails to Reach 65° in March, First Time Since 1958

March 2013 has closed out the record books with a monthly high temperature in Washington of 63°. This is the coldest high for March since the 58° in 1958. It's only the second time Washington has failed to reach 65° in March since the 60° high in 1931.

The unofficial monthly average of 43.8°, however, was only 3.0° below normal, making this the 55th coldest March since temperature records began in 1871.

Snowbound Sunday in Springfield: All-Time Daily Snowfall Record; St. Louis Also Sets March Record

The National Weather Service reports that Springfield, Illinois set a daily snowfall record on March 24:

A RECORD DAILY SNOWFALL OF 17 INCHES WAS SET AT SPRINGFIELD IL ON   
SUNDAY MARCH 24TH. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 2.4 INCHES SET IN 1947.  

According to NWS data, this would also be an all-time daily snowfall record at Springfield:

MOST SNOW IN 24 HOURS

Rank	Amount	Date
1	15.0 inches	Feb. 28, 1900
2	13.3 inches	Jan. 1-2, 1999
3	12.6 inches	Jan. 30-31, 1914
4	11.3 inches	Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 2008
5	11.2 inches	Feb. 12-13, 2007
6	10.9 inches	Dec. 19, 1973
7	10.7 inches	Feb. 12, 1894
8	10.5 inches	Dec. 24, 1915
9	10.3 inches	Feb. 23-24, 1965
10	9.4 inches	March 19-20, 1906

A daily snowfall record was also set at Peoria and Lincoln:

A RECORD SNOWFALL OF 7 INCHES WAS SET AT PEORIA IL ON SUNDAY   
MARCH 24TH. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 3.7 INCHES SET IN 1933.  

A DAILY RECORD SNOWFALL OF 10.8 INCHES WAS SET AT LINCOLN IL ON  
SUNDAY MARCH 24TH. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 4 INCHES SET IN   
1947.    

According to NWS records, this is also an all-time March daily record for Lincoln, exceeding the 7.5" on March 16, 1960.

The axis of heaviest snow also extended westward to St. Louis, where it was the heaviest daily snowfall for March and the second heaviest for any calendar day. From the NWS:

THE LATE SEASON WINTER STORM WHICH BROUGHT VERY HEAVY SNOW TO THE
REGION YESTERDAY WILL GO DOWN IN THE RECORD BOOKS AS THE HIGHEST
CALENDAR DAY MARCH SNOWFALL. THIS WAS ALSO THE SECOND HIGHEST
CALENDAR DAY SNOWFALL EVER...AND THE SIXTH GREATEST SNOWFALL EVENT
FOR ST LOUIS.

HERE ARE THE TOP TEN LISTS (PLEASE NOTE THAT OFFICIAL SNOWFALL
RECORDS FOR ST LOUIS GO BACK TO 1891)...

TOP TEN MARCH CALENDAR DAY SNOWFALL
(MIDNIGHT TO MIDNIGHT)

1. *12.4 INCHES  3/24/2013
2.  12.1 INCHES  3/24/1912
3.  10.0 INCHES  3/4/2008...3/6/1989...3/9/1958
6.   9.1 INCHES  3/19/1906
7.   8.6 INCHES  3/20/1924
8.   8.3 INCHES  3/26/1913
9.   7.8 INCHES  3/2/1912
10.  7.3 INCHES  3/23/1974

TOP TEN SNOWFALL CALENDAR DAYS
(MIDNIGHT TO MIDNIGHT)

1.  12.8 INCHES  2/26/1906
2.  *12.4 INCHES 3/24/2013
3.  12.1 INCHES  3/24/1912
4.  12.0 INCHES  12/19/1973
5.  11.7 INCHES  2/13/1914
6.  11.3 INCHES  2/16/1910
7.  11.2 INCHES  1/31/1958
8.  11.0 INCHES  1/11/1909
9.  10.9 INCHES  1/16/1978
10  10.5 INCHES  12/30/1973

TOP TEN SNOWFALL EVENTS
(ANY 24 HOUR PERIOD...POSSIBLY SPANNING CALENDAR DAYS)

1.  15.6 INCHES  2/20-21/1912
2.  13.9 INCHES  1/30-31/1982
3.  13.3 INCHES  2/16-17/1910
4.  13.0 INCHES  2/12-13/1914
5.  12.8 INCHES  2/26/1906
6.  *12.6 INCHES 3/24-25/2013  (7AM-7AM CDT)
7.  12.5 INCHES  1/16-17/1978
8.  12.1 INCHES  3/24/1912
9.  12.0 INCHES  12/19/1973
10. 12.0 INCHES  1/11-12/1909  

Think It Was Cold Today, DC? Not Your Great-Great Grandfather's March of the Penguins

Denizens of the DMV were complaining about the early-spring cold this March 21, but the chill was nowhere near the historical extremes for this date or any other date through the end of the month. Although the high for the day of 42° was set shortly after midnight, the daytime temperatures were mostly in the 30s. On the other hand, the afternoon high did reach 41°. This was well below the historical average of 58° in Washington, DC, but it was also a full 10° above the coldest high temperature for the date, which was set in 1885. In fact, it would not be near any coldest high for the remainder of March.

The CapitalClimate chart from National Weather Service data shows that all but 1 of the 13 record coldest high temperatures from March 19-31 were set over 100 years ago. The one exception was 73 years ago, on 03/25/1940.

Washington March Snow: Rare Event Becoming Rarer?

The climatological average for March snowfall in Washington is just 1.3", so significant snowfalls in the first month of meteorological spring are rare. With the bust of the current "Snowquester", it's likely that 2013 will add to a string of nearly snowless Marches extending back to 2009, when a total of 5.5" was recorded.

In the early days of official snowfall records, which began in Washington in 1888, March snow was relatively common. In fact, the first 6 years in the climate record had measurable March snow; 3 of those were over 10".

The chart shows on the horizontal axis all of the years with 4" or more of total snowfall in March. The vertical axis is the number of years since the previous occurrence of 4"+. For example, if 4" occurred in consecutive years, the interval would be shown as 1. For the first several decades, the interval between significant March snows never exceeded 4 years, but in 1923 it reached 9. The interval reached double digits for the first time in 1956, when it was 13. It was 13 again in 1993, and 10 in 2009, which ended a March snow dry spell that began after 1999.

Unless this month has a miraculous snowfall recovery, the current March snow drought will be 4 years and counting.

Blizzard Threatens Texas All-Time Snowfall Records

8 PM CST February 26 Update: Map updated with final totals.

8 PM CST Update: The Amarillo snow total of 19" is the third heaviest for any storm on record:

19 inches of snow at NWS #Amarillo. 2nd most snow in a calendar day and 3rd most for any event. #phwx #amablizzard

— NWS Amarillo (@NWSAmarillo) February 26, 2013

4 PM CST Update: Here are some unofficial snowfall reports from the National Weather Service for the Texas panhandle:

Location              Snowfall  Source
7 ENE Amarillo  TX      17      nws office
Fritch          TX      16      trained spotter
Pampa           TX      15      co-op observer
6 SE Booker     TX      14      trained spotter
Fritch          TX      14      trained spotter
White Deer      TX      14      public
Booker          TX      14      emergency mngr
Fritch          TX      13      public
3 S Darrouzett  TX      12.5    trained spotter
Dumas           TX      12      law enforcement
Bushland        TX      12      public
6 SW Amarillo   TX      12      trained spotter 

Original Post:
The ongoing blizzard in the Texas panhandle is threatening to break some all-time Texas snowfall records. These are the current snowfall records at Amarillo, from the National Weather Service:

Max for 24 hours: 20.6 inches on March 25-26, 1934
Max for a single storm: 20.6 inches on March 25-26, 1934
Max for one month: 28.7 inches in February 1903
Max measured snow depth: 17.0 inches on February 26, 1903
Max for a season: 50.9 inches in 1918-19

The NWS at Amarillo reports:

GOING FORECAST STILL ON TRACK. THE NWS OFFICE NOW HAS OVER 13 INCHES
ON THE GROUND WITH 3-4 FOOT DRIFTS AND A MAX GUST TO 58 MPH. THE SE
TX PANHANDLE HAS BEEN SLOW TO FILL IN WITH SNOW AFTER THE
THUNDERSTORMS THAT DROPPED HEAVY RAIN LAST NIGHT AND THESE AREAS
MIGHT END UP WITH AMOUNTS CLOSER TO THE 8 INCH SIDE THAN THE 14 INCH
SIDE OF THEIR RANGE. AT THE END OF THE DAY...THE HEAVIEST TOTALS
WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY BE ALONG A PALO DURO CANYON TO AMARILLO TO
STINNETT TO PERRYTON LINE.

SOME RECORDS SEEM TO BE IN A PRECARIOUS POSITION TODAY. THE FIRST IS
AN ALL-TIME 24 HOUR SNOWFALL RECORD AT AMARILLO OF 20.6 INCHES FROM
MARCH 25-26 1934. WE WILL LIKELY GET VERY CLOSE OR SURPASS THIS
NUMBER BY THIS AFTERNOON.

THE OTHER IS THE ALL-TIME STATE OF TEXAS 24 HOUR SNOWFALL RECORD OF
25 INCHES IN FOLLETT SET MARCH 28 2009. SOMEWHERE IN THE
PERRYTON/STINNETT/BORGER/AMARILLO AREA COULD APPROACH THIS VALUE BY
THIS AFTERNOON.