WASHINGTON — March is a transitional weather month in the United States that often features a wide variety of weather. That’s certainly true in Washington, D.C. where March’s warmest and coldest temperatures on record are 93° and 4°.
Last spring NOAA updated its climate data to reflect the 30-year period 1991-2020. That replaced the previous data set that was based on 1981-2010. The months of November through February each saw a decrease in the average amount of monthly snowfall in Washington, D.C.
However, D.C.’s March snowfall average actually increased from 1.3” to 2.0” in NOAA’s updated average. This can be attributed to how March was snowier than average five times in the Nation’s Capital between 2011 – 2020. It was also D.C.’s snowiest month of the year four times over the last decade.
The best example of this occurred in March 2014. That’s when a monthly total of 12.7” fell at Reagan National Airport, D.C.’s official weather reporting site. Consequently, March 2014 was D.C.’s snowiest March since 1960. It was also D.C.’s snowiest month, overall, since February 2010, when D.C.’s fourth-largest snowstorm “Snowmageddon” occurred.
Given the right conditions, snow can overcome the increasing sun angle and warmer temperatures that occur as the month of March wears on. Despite the increase in D.C.’s March snowfall average, the average annual amount of snow in Washington, D.C. actually decreased from 15.4” to 13.7” in NOAA’s updated climate averages.
Some accumulating snowfall is in the forecast this weekend for parts of the Appalachian Mountain chain. That’s good news for folks interested in a last-minute ski trip to some of the resorts in West Virginia or Pennsylvania.
Washington, D.C.’s Ten Largest March Snowstorms (Source: National Weather Service “NWS”)
1. 12.0” – March 27-28, 1891
2. 11.5” – March 28-29, 1942
3. 10.7” – March 7 – 8, 1941
4. 10.0” – March 15 – 16, 1900
5. 9.8” – March 3 – 4, 1909
6. 8.4” – March 9, 1999
7. 8.0” – March 14 – 16, 1937
8. 7.9” – March 2 – 3, 1960
9. 7.4” – March 7 – 8, 1911
10. 7.2” – March 16 – 17, 2014
Snowiest March’s, Washington, D.C. (Source: NWS)
1. 19.3” – 1914
2. 17.1” – 1960
3. 17.0” – 1891
4. 15.5” – 1900
5. 12.7 – 2014
