National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

• Home
• Site Map
• News
• Organization
• Search for: NWS All NOAA 

000
CXUS55 KBOU 011111
CLMDEN

CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOULDER, CO
210 AM MDT MON APR 1 2013

..........MARCH 2013 COLDER AND WETTER THAN NORMAL..........

A SERIES OF WINTER STORMS MOVED ACROSS COLORADO DURING MARCH 2013
BRINGING BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND BENEFICIAL PRECIPITATION TO
NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEASTERN COLORADO.

MARCH 2013 STARTED OUT DRY WITH NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES THE FIRST
THREE DAYS OF THE MONTH. THE WEATHER TURNED COLDER ON THE 4TH AS AN
UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT MOVED INTO
COLORADO. THIS SYSTEM BROUGHT TWO INCHES OF SNOW TO DENVER
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ON THE 5TH. UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE MOVED
OVER THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION ON THE 6TH WITH TEMPERATURES
REBOUNDING TO ABOVE NORMAL VALUES BY THE 7TH. THE DRY AND MILD
WEATHER WOULD NOT LAST LONG AS ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM WAS POISED TO
MOVE INTO COLORADO FROM THE WEST. THIS STORM SYSTEM BROUGHT BELOW
NORMAL TEMPERATURES TO NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEASTERN COLORADO FROM
THE 8TH THROUGH THE 10TH...AND PRODUCED 4 TO 8 INCHES OF SNOW ACROSS
METRO DENVER. 5.4 INCHES OF SNOW WAS MEASURED AT DENVER
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. ANOTHER WEAKER SYSTEM BROUGHT AN ADDITIONAL
4.4 INCHES TO DENVER FROM THE EVENING OF THE 11TH THROUGH THE
MORNING OF THE 12TH. UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE REBUILT OVER THE AREA
BRINGING MUCH WARMER AND DRIER WEATHER FROM THE 13TH THROUGH THE
15TH. THE HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 76 DEGREES ON THE 15TH SET A NEW
RECORD MAX TEMPERATURE FOR THE DATE. THE PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 75
DEGREES WAY BACK IN 1877. ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES CONTINUED
THROUGH THE 17TH...BUT THINGS WERE ABOUT TO CHANGE AS YET ANOTHER
STORM SYSTEM WAS READY TO MOVE INTO COLORADO. THIS SYSTEM TRACKED
ACROSS THE INTERMOUNTAIN WEST AND THEN INTO NORTHERN COLORADO ON THE
EVENING OF THE 22ND. SNOW AND WIND INCREASED OVERNIGHT AS AN ARCTIC
COLD FRONT MOVED IN FROM THE NORTH. 6 TO 14 INCHES OF SNOW FELL
ACROSS MUCH OF THE NORTHEASTERN PLAINS WITH BLIZZARD CONDITIONS
REPORTED EAST AND SOUTHEAST OF DENVER. DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
MEASUSRED 11.6 INCHES OF SNOW FROM THE EVENING OF THE 22ND THROUGH
THE AFTERNOON OF THE 23RD...WHICH SETS A NEW TWO DAY SNOWFALL RECORD
FOR THAT DATE. THE PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 8.0 INCHES SET BACK IN 2010.
IN ADDITION...UNSEASONABLY COLD TEMPERATURES WERE RECORDED FROM THE
23RD THROUGH THE 25TH. DURING THIS THREE DAY PERIOD...HIGH
TEMPERATURES DID NOT MAKE IT OUT OF THE 20`S WITH LOW TEMPERATURES
JUST ABOVE ZERO ON THE MORNINGS OF THE 24TH AND 25TH. ABOVE NORMAL
TEMPERATURES RETURNED BY THE 28TH AND CONTINUED THROUGH THE END OF
THE MONTH AS UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE ONCE AGAIN TOOK HOLD OF THE
REGION.

TEMPERATURES:

THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH WAS 37.7 DEGREES F
WHICH WAS 2.7 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. MARCH OF 1910 IS THE WARMEST
MARCH ON RECORD WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 50.4 DEGREES F. THE
COLDEST MARCH ON RECORD WAS 26.4 BACK IN 1912.

THERE WERE NO DAYS IN WHICH THE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE EXCEEDED 90
DEGREES. THERE WERE 3 DAYS IN WHICH THE DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURE DID
NOT EXCEED 32 DEGREES F AND NO DAYS WITH LOW TEMPERATURES AT OR
BELOW ZERO DEGREES F. THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE OF THE MONTH WAS 76
DEGREES WHICH OCCURRED ON THE 15TH. THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE OF THE
MONTH WAS 2 DEGREES ON THE MORNING OF THE 25TH.

PRECIPITATION.

PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH WAS 1.47 INCHES...WHICH IS 0.55
INCHES ABOVE THE NORMAL 0F 0.92 INCHES. THE WETTEST MARCH ON RECORD
OCCURRED BACK IN 1983 WHEN 4.56 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION WAS
RECORDED. THE DRIEST MARCH ON RECORD OCCURRED LAST YEAR (2012) WHEN
ONLY 0.03 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION WAS RECORDED.

23.5 INCHES OF SNOW WAS RECORDED DURING THE MONTH...WHICH IS 13.5
INCHES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 10.0 INCHES. MARCH 2013 JUST FELL SHORT
OF MAKING IT INTO THE TOP TEN SNOWIEST MARCH LIST.

WEATHER:

THERE WERE NO THUNDERSTORMS OBSERVED AT DENVER
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. THERE WERE FOUR DAYS WITH DENSE FOG WITH A
VISIBILITY AT OR BELOW 1/4 MILE DURING THE MONTH. A PEAK WIND OF 47
MPH FROM A NORTHWESTERLY DIRECTION WAS RECORDED ON THE 17TH.
...................................

...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH 2013...

CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1872 TO 2013

WEATHER         OBSERVED          NORMAL  DEPART  LAST YEAR`S
                 VALUE   DATE(S)  VALUE   FROM    VALUE  DATE(S)
                                          NORMAL
................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
 HIGH              84   03/26/1971
 LOW              -11   03/28/1886
HIGHEST            76   03/15        84      -8       81  03/31
LOWEST              2   03/25       -11      13       16  03/02
AVG. MAXIMUM     50.7              54.4    -3.7     65.5
AVG. MINIMUM     24.6              26.4    -1.8     32.9
MEAN             37.7              40.4    -2.7     49.2
DAYS MAX >= 90      0               0.0     0.0        0
DAYS MAX <= 32      3               1.9     1.1        0
DAYS MIN <= 32     24              23.6     0.4       14
DAYS MIN <= 0       0               0.1    -0.1        0

PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
 MAXIMUM         4.56   1983
 MINIMUM         0.03   2012
TOTALS           1.47              0.92    0.55     0.03
DAILY AVG.       0.05              0.03    0.02     0.00
DAYS >= .01         6               5.9     0.1        2
DAYS >= .10         4               2.4     1.6        0
DAYS >= .50         0               0.3    -0.3        0
DAYS >= 1.00        0               0.1    -0.1        0
GREATEST
 24 HR. TOTAL    0.47   03/22 TO 03/22           03/01 TO 03/02
                                                          03/01 TO 03/01
                                                          03/01 TO 03/01
 STORM TOTAL       MM                                 MM
 (MM/DD(HH))            MM                    03/02(00) TO 03/02(00)
                                                 03/01(00) TO 03/01(00)1
                                                 03/01(00) TO 03/01(00)1

SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
 TOTAL             MM   5
TOTALS           23.5              10.7

DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL     840               763      77      483
 SINCE 7/1       5112              5202     -90     4863
COOLING TOTAL       0                 0       0        0
 SINCE 1/1          0                 0       0        0

FREEZE DATES
RECORD
 EARLIEST     09/08/1962
 LATEST       06/08/2007
EARLIEST      03/01             10/07
LATEST                          05/05
..................................................

WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED              10.1
RESULTANT WIND SPEED/DIRECTION   1/223
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    38/010    DATE  03/09
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION    47/280    DATE  03/17

SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT)   MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER           0.60
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR            2
NUMBER OF DAYS PC             20
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY          9

AVERAGE RH (PERCENT)     53

WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM              0     MIXED PRECIP               0
HEAVY RAIN                0     RAIN                       0
LIGHT RAIN                1     FREEZING RAIN              0
LT FREEZING RAIN          0     HAIL                       0
HEAVY SNOW                3     SNOW                       5
LIGHT SNOW                8     SLEET                      0
FOG                       9     FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE      4
HAZE                     10

-  INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R  INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T  INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.

$$