From Snowstorm to Thunderstorm

By Russell Russ

The month’s low temperature of two degrees was observed on March 3 and the high temperature of 60 degrees was observed on March 28. Norfolk was nowhere near any temperature records this month, high or low. The average mean temperature this month was 32.3 degrees, 1.8 degrees above normal. The total precipitation recorded for the month was 2.8 inches, 1.69 inches below normal. March’s snowfall total was 14.2 inches, 4.2 inches below normal. At the weather station, we lost our snow cover on March 29. There had been a continuous snow cover since December 17, 2008. For the year 2009, the total precipitation amount is 8.52 inches, 3.66 inches below normal. The snowfall total for this same period is 56.9 inches, 2.7 inches below normal. The snowfall total for this winter season, October through March, is now at 78.9 inches, which is 5.6 inches below normal. March came in like a lion with our largest snow event of the season starting in the late evening of March 1 and continuing into the afternoon of March 2. Overall, the storm dumped a total of 12.7 inches of snow at the weather station. After this early snowstorm, we had relatively little snowfall for the rest of the month. It is fairly common to be hit by at least one nor’easter in March, often leaving Norfolk with some impressive snowfall totals, but not this year. There was a thunderstorm with reports of hail during the evening of March 29. This year, both Tobey Pond and Wangum Lake lost their ice on March 30. This was almost two weeks earlier than last year, but about the same as in 2007. Typically, the ice goes out between late March and the first or second week of April. Weather observations are recorded at Norfolk’s National Weather Service Cooperative Weather Observer Station, Norfolk 2 SW, by the Great Mountain Forest Corporation.