Climatological Report (Monthly)
Issued by NWS Boise, ID

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CXUS55 KBOI 011812 CCA
CLMBOI

CLIMATE REPORT...CORRECTED TO ADD NARRATIVE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE ID
1212 PM MDT SAT APR 01 2023

WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 39.1, MARCH 2023 WAS THE 10TH COLDEST
IN 84 YEARS OF AIRPORT RECORDS AND TIES WITH 1965 AS THE 22ND
COLDEST IN 146 YEARS OF TEMPERATURE RECORDS AT ALL BOISE LOCATIONS.
IT WAS THE COLDEST MARCH SINCE 1985. ONLY TWO DAYS AVERAGED WARMER
THAN NORMAL. IT WAS THE FIRST MARCH SINCE 1970 WHEN TEMPERATURES
FAILED TO REACH 60.

MARCH 31 MARKS THE 150TH CONSECUTIVE DAY WHEN TEMPERATURES FAILED TO
REACH 60. IF OUR FORECASTS FOR THE FIRST WEEK OF APRIL VERIFY, THERE
WILL BE 157 DAYS BELOW 60, FROM NOVEMBER 2, 2022 THROUGH APRIL 7,
2023. THAT WILL BEAT THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 153 DAYS, FROM NOVEMBER
13, 1898 THROUGH APRIL 2, 1899.

HERE`S HOW MARCH 2023 COMPARES WITH MARCHES OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS.

             YEAR     AVE. TEMP.     RANK*     HIGH     LOW
             2013       45.1         22/84      73       19
             2014       45.7         14/84      70       24
             2015       49.7          1/84      77       20
             2016       47.5          8/84      70       27
             2017       48.9          2/84      74       30
             2018       44.1         34/84      69       23
             2019       43.2         41/84      68       22
             2020       45.4         19/84      71       24
             2021       44.8         24/84      75       25
             2022       45.6         16/84      74       14
             2023       39.1         75/84      58       22
                        *RANK AMONG THE WARMEST

PRECIPITATION TOTALED 2.47 INCHES. IT WAS THE FIFTH WETTEST MARCH IN
84 YEARS OF AIRPORT RECORDS AND THE 13TH WETTEST IN 146 YEARS OF
PRECIPITATION RECORDS AT ALL BOISE LOCATIONS. IT WAS THE WETTEST
MARCH SINCE 2017.

THE TOTAL SNOWFALL OF 9.1 INCHES MAKES MARCH 2023 THE THIRD SNOWIEST
ON RECORD AT THE AIRPORT. IT TIES WITH 1906 AS THE FIFTH SNOWIEST
MARCH AT ALL AIRPORT LOCATIONS.

NEW SNOWFALL RECORDS INCLUDE 2.1 INCHES ON THE 1ST AND 1.8 INCHES ON
THE 24TH. NEW SNOW DEPTH RECORDS INCLUDE 1 INCH ON THE 6TH AND
TRACES ON THE 10TH AND 20TH.

A BLOCKING PATTERN OVER THE NORTH PACIFIC DISPLACED THE JET STREAM
FARTHER SOUTH THAN NORMAL. COLD LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS SLIDING DOWN
THE COAST FROM THE GULF OF ALASKA MOVED INLAND OVER THE
INTERMOUNTAIN REGION, CARVING OUT A LONGWAVE TROUGH OF COLD AIR OVER
THE WESTERN U.S. OCCASIONALLY A WEAK HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE WOULD SLIP
IN BETWEEN STORMS. BUT THE HIGH AMPLITUDE WARM RIDGES WHICH
OCCASIONALLY BUILD OVER OUR AREA WERE PREVENTED FROM DEVELOPING, SO
WE MISSED OUT ON THE EARLY SPRING WARM SPELLS WE`VE SEEN IN PAST
YEARS.

MARCH BEGAN UNDER A DEEP TROUGH AND 2 INCHES OF NEW SNOW AT THE
AIRPORT. AN INCH OF THAT WAS LEFT OVER FROM FEBRUARY. IT ALL MELTED
DURING THE AFTERNOON.

ON THE 2ND, A COLD HIGH PRESSURE AREA WAS IN PLACE AT THE SURFACE.
IT WAS THE COLDEST DAY OF THE MONTH, AVERAGING ONLY 31 DEGREES.

A COLD FRONT PASSED BOISE JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT ON THE 3RD, WITH ONLY
A TRACE OF SNOW.

A VERY COLD TROUGH FROM THE GULF OF ALASKA EXPANDED ITS INFLUENCE
INLAND OVER THE NORTHWEST STATES ON THE 4TH AND 5TH. JUST OVER AN
INCH AND A HALF OF SNOW FELL, BUT ONLY A TRACE STAYED ON THE GROUND
BY THE END OF THE DAY ON THE 5TH. BUT BY THE MORNING OF THE 6TH, AN
INCH OF NEW SNOW HAD ACCUMULATED.

SNOW SHOWERS CONTINUED THROUGH THE 10TH. THE NEXT TROUGH MOVED
INLAND BEHIND A COLD FRONT ON THE 10TH, WITH LESS THAN A TENTH OF AN
INCH OF RAIN AND ONLY A TRACE OF SNOW. A WIND GUST OF 44 MPH FROM
THE SOUTHWEST PRECEDED THE FRONT.

HIGHS WERE IN THE 50S FROM THE 11TH THROUGH THE 14TH FOLLOWING A
WARM FRONT. THE 13TH AND 14TH WERE THE ONLY DAYS WHEN TEMPERATURES
AVERAGED ABOVE NORMAL.

RAIN SHOWERS FROM THE 12TH THROUGH THE 15TH ACCOMPANIED A COUPLE OF
WEAK TROUGHS. PRECIPITATION WAS ENHANCED BY A STATIONARY FRONT ON
THE 14TH, WHEN A QUARTER OF AN INCH OF RAIN FELL AT THE AIRPORT.

A WEAK HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE KEPT OUR AREA DRY FROM THE 16TH THROUGH
THE 19TH.

A WEAK TROUGH BROUGHT HALF AN INCH OF SNOW WITH OVER HALF AN INCH OF
WATER CONTENT ON THE 20TH. AHEAD OF THE TROUGH ON THE 19TH,
SOUTHWEST WINDS ALOFT PUSHED THE TEMPERATURE UP TO 58, THE HIGH FOR
THE MONTH. THE HIGH ON THE 20TH WAS 10 DEGREES COOLER.

A MUCH DEEPER TROUGH EVADED OUR AREA AS IT MOVED DOWN THE COAST TO
CALIFORNIA ON THE 21ST, BUT IT DID MANAGE TO BRING US A DUSTING OF
SNOW.

THE NEXT TROUGH PUSHED A COLD FRONT THROUGH BOISE SHORTLY AFTER
MIDNIGHT ON THE 24TH, RESULTING IN AN INCH OF SNOW ON THE GROUND
THAT MORNING. FROM THE 24TH THROUGH THE 27TH, THE TROUGH WAS
ACCOMPANIED BY COLD TEMPERATURES AND LIGHT FLURRIES.

ANOTHER TROUGH, ORIGINATING OVER ALASKA, MOVED SOUTH ON THE 26TH AND
27TH AND DEEPENED OFF THE WASHINGTON-OREGON COAST ON THE 28TH.
DOWNSLOPING SOUTHEAST SURFACE WINDS, BETWEEN HIGH PRESSURE OVER
WESTERN WYOMING AND LOW PRESSURE OFFSHORE, PERSISTED THROUGH MOST OF
THE DAY. SOUTHWEST WINDS CROSSING THE OWYHEE MOUNTAINS DRIED OUT
BEFORE REACHING THE VALLEY, PREVENTING MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION
UNTIL THE COLD FRONT PASSED THAT EVENING. AS THE WIND SHIFTED INTO
THE NORTHWEST BEHIND THE FRONT, WE WERE NO LONGER IN A RAIN SHADOW.
BY THE MORNING OF THE 29TH, JUST OVER A TENTH OF AN INCH OF RAIN HAD
FALLEN AT THE AIRPORT.

AS THE TROUGH MOVED INLAND, COLD AIR ALOFT CHANGED THE RAIN TO SNOW.
BY 6:00 AM ON THE 30TH, NEARLY 3 INCHES HAD ACCUMULATED AT THE
AIRPORT. THE SNOW CHANGED TO RAIN JUST BEFORE 10:00 AM. SHOWERS
CONTINUED ON AND OFF, AND BY THE TIME THEY ENDED JUST BEFORE 11:00
PM, SNOW COVER HAD MELTED DOWN TO A TRACE, AND NEARLY AN INCH OF
PRECIPITATION HAD FALLEN.

ONLY A TRACE OF RAIN FELL DURING LATE AFTERNOON ON THE 31ST AS A
WEAK DISTURBANCE MOVED THROUGH FROM THE NORTHWEST.

...................................

...THE BOISE ID CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH 2023...

CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1991 TO 2020
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1875 TO 2023

WEATHER         OBSERVED          NORMAL  DEPART   LAST YEAR`S
                VALUE   DATE(S)   VALUE   FROM     VALUE
                                          NORMAL
..............................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
HIGHEST           58   03/19
LOWEST            22   03/27
AVG. MAXIMUM    47.7               55.5    -7.8
AVG. MINIMUM    30.4               34.9    -4.5
MEAN            39.1               45.2    -6.1
DAYS MAX >= 90     0
DAYS MAX <= 32     0
DAYS MIN <= 32    20
DAYS MIN <= 0      0

PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
 MAXIMUM        7.66   1871
TOTALS          2.47               1.33    1.14
DAYS >= .01       18
DAYS >= .10        7
DAYS >= .50        1
DAYS >= 1.00       0
GREATEST
 24 HR. TOTAL   0.92   03/30 TO 03/30

SNOWFALL (INCHES)
TOTALS           9.1
SINCE 7/1       29.2
GREATEST
 SNOW DEPTH        1   03/06
                       03/24
 24 HR TOTAL     9.1

DEGREE DAYS
HEATING TOTAL    796                614     182      594
 SINCE 7/1      4884               4633     251
COOLING TOTAL      0                  0       0        0
 SINCE 1/1         0                  0       0
..............................................................

WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED              10.3
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    32/150    DATE  03/09
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION    44/130    DATE  03/10

AVERAGE RH (PERCENT)     61


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

$$


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