Warm and Nearly Snowless

By Russel Russ

March’s temperatures were considerably above average and the total snowfall for the entire month was less than one inch. The month of March in Norfolk can have wild swings in weather conditions. There were no wild swings in conditions this year, it was just above average for warmth for most of the month. Snow chances were few and far between due to warm temperatures and the fact that weather patterns just did not form in a way to produce snowfall in the Connecticut area. March can see nor’easter-type storms that produce big snowfall totals. Not this year, though. March is typically the best maple syrup producing month in this part of Connecticut, but not this year. Temperatures were either too warm day and night or too cold day and night. Most area lakes and ponds lost their ice by mid-month. This was a week or two later than last year’s ice out, but still a week or two earlier than the long-term average. 

Perhaps more than anything, what stood out weather-wise and what was most noticeable by many this March were the frequent days with windy conditions. What is up with all the wind? Good question. Having a new weather station that records wind gusts has helped quantify the windy conditions, but we did not need a fancy weather station to tell it just seemed windy all month. There were thirteen days with gusts in the 20-30 miles per hour range, seven days in the 30-40 mph range, and a peak gust of 47 mph was recorded on March 16. 

March’s low temperature of seven degrees was observed on March 3 and the high of 66 was observed on March 31. With a monthly mean temperature of 37.2 degrees, it was 6.5 degrees warmer than normal, making it Norfolk’s eighth warmest March over the last ninety-four years. The first few days of the month were cold. Two days recorded lows in the single digits, but that was it for the very cold temperatures. March 31, with a temperature of 66 degrees, was a record high for that date, surpassing the old record of 65 from 1948. 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 3.37 inches, 0.97 inch below normal. This was below normal, but not high-ranking. Norfolk’s wettest March was in 1953 with 10.37 inches and the driest was in 1981 with a total of just 0.64 inch. Through the first quarter of 2025, the total precipitation amount was 8.11 inches, 3.88 inches below normal. Last year’s total for the same first quarter period was 16.99 inches. We are not only not getting the snowfall, but we are also not getting much of anything.

March’s monthly snowfall total of 0.8 inch was 16.7 inches below normal. It ranked as Norfolk’s third least snowy March on record. With 1.2 inches recorded in March of 2024, that makes two years in a row with very low snowfall totals for March. 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 of snowfall measured all month. 

The 2024-25 winter season snowfall total through March was 39.2 inches, 43.4 inches below normal. As many of our recent winters have been, this winter will also be high ranking for least amount of snowfall. Through March, this winter ranked as our second least snowy winter season on record. Norfolk’s snowiest winter was 1955-1956 with 177.4 inches and the least snowy winter was 2015-2016 with 35.5 inches. 

It was a weak winter. It’s time to move on to spring, right? Not so fast. The first half of April was more March-like than most of March. By the evening of April 10, April’s snowfall total had already exceeded March’s monthly total. By the morning of April 12, with a monthly snowfall total of 6.4 inches, it was already above average for April. Welcome to spring in New England. It did warm up after mid-month and it did touch 80 degrees at the weather station on April 19. The grass was greening, flowers were starting to bloom, and the peepers were singing. Spring did arrive. April will likely be somewhat normal in all categories. April’s snowfall will raise the winter snowfall total out of the top five least snowy, but not by much. Last year at this time we were saying who’ll stop the rain, this year we are looking for some rain to reduce our growing deficit. 

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