March was in like a Lion and Out the same way

March was pretty wild or so it seemed. The actual numbers show pretty normal precipitation both in wet and frozen varieties. Temps seemed much cooler than average and they were in the afternoon. Overnight lows were observed to be about 1º under 'normal' but daytime highs were a whopping 5º under 'normal' for the month. The month came in chilly and blustery with mixed winter precipitation dominating the weather. There was one spring-like patch but then the month ended on a cold and chilly note with wind, thunder, and mixed winter precipitation. The snow levels locally stayed under 2000 feet for nearly the whole month and dipped under 1000 feet at least 15 days of the month even finding sea level a few times.

On the temperature side of things the month had just two days with morning lows below freezing with one daily record low of 29.7º on the 16th which was the coldest temp of the month. No where near my all time low for March at 19.4º. 27 days had morning lows under 40º which is a tad cool for March. The warmest overnight temp was 44.3º on the 19th. 

Daytime highs really felt more like January with 18 days that failed to reach 50º and two that couldn't even muster 40º. There were four daily records for cold maximum temps. The chilliest was a high temp of 39º on the 12th. There were four days that managed to get above 60º with the warmest afternoon coming on the 18th with 66.1º.  

The real story was precipitation. Despite very close to normal rainfall and snowfall, March felt wet and wild. 5.34 inches of rain came down just a few tenths shy of typical for March. The frozen variety was a typical 0.60 inch a tad shy of normal. The only sticking snow fell over the 7th and 8th with about 1/2 inch on the ground on the 8th. The wettest day was the 14th when 1.18 inches fell which was one of 8 days with more than 1/4 inch of rain. March was uncharacteristically cloudy and damp with 22 days of measurable precipitation and just four sunny days. We were definitely living up to our reputation as a cloudy and soggy area.

April is starting out like March ended with mixed winter precipitation, cool temps and very low snow levels. The local weather experts are predicting a warm up of spring appropriate temps starting next week with some forecasts showing upper 70s by the end of next week. We shall see about that ;)

February is done and now wears the Snow Crown

 

What's this snow crown baloney? I'll get to that later; first let's take a look at February's numbers shall we?

As the title at least in part suggests, we had some snow in February and not just a typical Western Washington dusting. The month was notably cooler than my 22 year average with daytime highs averaging 46.1º nearly three below normal, and morning lows averaging 32.5º which is two and a half degrees cooler than normal. The month was pretty dry as far as water content is concerned. 

Temps ranged from a high of 54.8º on the 9th to a low of 14.3º on the 2nd which was a 22 year all time low for February edging out the previous record by a mere two tenths of a degree. Now these are my records for my 22 years of reporting from this site, Vancouver's all time record low for February came in 1950 with a reading of -2º so we were no where near that. The chilliest afternoon high arrived on the 23rd with 31.3º which was also a 22 year record daily at this location. Three daily record lows fell last month and two daily record low max temps as well. February delivered eight days with temps above 50º and four days that failed to reach 40º. A dozen days dipped below the freezing mark overnight but only one day failed to rise above freezing. The warmest overnight low arrived on the morning of the 20th when the mercury only dipped to 43.8º. 

On the precipitation side of weather, February was actually a bit boring. There were just 4 sunny days the whole month and 14 rainy/snowy days. The wettest day was mere 0.29 inch on the 27th, which was one of just 3 days measuring more than 1/4 inch. The total water content was only a third of normal with 2.06 inches. There were six days with winter precipitation falling mostly as snow with the snowiest day being the 22nd when I measured 5 inches. The month of February ended up with 7.5 inches of snow. 

So what's up with the title? Snow Crown? The first dozen years of recording weather at this location February was always a distant third behind January and December in terms of average snowfall. But the last decade has seen February quietly moving closer to the December and January averages with several 'snowmeggeddon' events. This year for the first time in my 22 years of records February is now the snowiest month averaging 2.62 inches a year ahead of January which has fallen to 2.48 inches average and December which has been steady averaging 2.49 inches. I haven't had a big snowstorm in January since 2017 when the month recorded more than 8 inches. I've had three Januaries since then with ZERO snowfall. Historically, according to long time weather records, January has been the juggernaut for snowfall with 4.29 inches on average compared to paltry numbers for December and February at 1.4 and 1.1 inches respectively. So for now, February is the snowiest month at my house. I'd imagine that we will get some monster 'snowpocalypse' in January in the next year or so and that month will reclaim the crown. The chart shows February's snow fall versus the other months since the 01-02 winter season.

March looks like it' coming in like a lion we shall see if it goes out like a lamb.