Who’ll Stop the Rain?

By Russell Russ 

For Norfolk and much of southern New England, March was another wet month and another winter month with very little snow. As many recent months have been, it was also fairly high ranking for warmth. March’s warmth brought an early end to this year’s maple syrup season and also resulted in early ice-out dates for local ponds and lakes. After icing over in early January, most local ponds and lakes lost their ice for good by the first week of March. It was no surprise to see pond ice duration being off by two to four weeks compared to normal.   

March’s low temperature of 15 degrees was observed on March 1, and the high of 64 was observed on March 13. With a monthly mean temperature of 37.0 degrees, it was 6.3 degrees warmer than normal. There were no daily temperature records set this month, but March did rank as Norfolk’s ninth warmest over the last 93 years. Norfolk’s warmest March was in 2012 with 41.8 degrees, the coldest was in 1960 with 21.2 degrees. 

The total precipitation recorded for the month was 7.27 inches, 2.93 inches above normal. This March ranked as Norfolk’s ninth wettest. Two storms stood out for the precipitation they produced—rain, not snow. Rainfall from March 5 to 7 totaled 2.19 inches, and rainfall from March 23 totaled 2.48 inches. The rainfall on March 23 came in the form of freezing rain. While there was a minor accretion of 0.1 inch on trees and powerlines, there was minimal damage. Norfolk can see freezing rain during the winter, and over the years we have experienced some widespread and severe ice storm damage. Norfolk has been fortunate in recent years to have had only a few relatively minor ice storms. Norfolk’s wettest March was in 1953 with 10.37 inches, and the driest was in 1981 with just 0.64 inch. Through the first quarter of 2024, the total precipitation amount was 16.99 inches, exactly five inches above normal.    

March’s monthly snowfall total of 1.2 inches was 16.3 inches below normal. It ranked as Norfolk’s fifth least snowy March. March of 2023 was a different story; with 31.3 inches, it ranked as our 12th snowiest. March’s “big” snowstorm this year came on March 20 when Norfolk measured a mere one inch from passing snow showers and squalls. The March with the most snowfall, also the snowiest month of any month on record for Norfolk, was in 1956 with 73.6 inches. The least snowy March on record was 2021 with just 0.1 inch. 

The 2023-24 winter season snowfall total through March was 42.0 inches, 40.6 inches below normal. January’s 26.2 inches accounted for a majority of this winter’s snowfall total. As many of our recent winters have been, this winter will also be high ranking for least amount of snowfall. Norfolk’s snowiest winter was 1955-56 with 177.4 inches, and the least snowy winter was 2015-16 with 35.5 inches. 

It was a weak winter. Time to move on to spring. April is typically Norfolk’s transition month from winter white and brown to springtime green and colorful. April this year, through two-thirds of the month, was fairly normal temperature-wise. Precipitation was nearly an inch above normal. April had a little bit of everything. It had warm and cool temperatures, rain and even some snow. April’s snowfall total of 3.5 inches was a little below normal, but it easily surpassed March’s monthly total. The moisture we are getting is good, but at this point enough is enough and we need to dry out for a while. Who’ll stop the rain? 

Weather observations are recorded by the Great Mountain Forest at Norfolk’s National Weather Service Cooperative Weather Observer Station, Norfolk 2SW.