Post by Crunch41 on Apr 3, 2018 23:01:55 GMT -5
Madison, Wisconsin: 1.3F cooler than normal, 1.46" drier than normal, 3.6" less snowy than normal. Only a trace of precipitation from the 7th to 25th, a dry month overall. Also it was very consistent by March standards-the average month reaches 63 and 3 (60F/33C range) and the most abnormal day was only 9F/5C off the daily mean. No sunshine data but the average sky cover was 50%.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin: 0.1F colder than average, 1.61" drier than average, 3" less snowy than average. Again a dry spell from the 7th to 25th and very dry and consistent overall. Sky cover 50% again. Except for the one day that reached 59F/15C, the rest of the month was between 20 and 51F (-7 and +11C). There were only 3 days that were more than 5F/3C off the daily means, which is very unusual. I looked at the past few years:
March 2018: 4 days had a daily mean more than 5F from normal (5 doesn't count, 6 does). 0 days more than 10F, max 10.
March 2017: 14 days over 5F and 8 over 10F, max +26
March 2016: 18 days over 5 and 9 over 10, max +31
March 2015: 20 days over 5 and 8 over 10, max -21
March 2014: 21 days over 5 and 13 over 10, max -24
March 2013: 15 days over 5 and 4 over 10, max -20
March 2012: 24 days over 5 and 21 over 10, max +33
March 2012 was extremely warm and broke records, but the other months weren't record-breaking.
The lack of warm weather meant that the northern half of Wisconsin kept a snowpack the entire month despite not getting much snow or cold weather. That's not rare, but it doesn't happen every year.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin: 0.1F colder than average, 1.61" drier than average, 3" less snowy than average. Again a dry spell from the 7th to 25th and very dry and consistent overall. Sky cover 50% again. Except for the one day that reached 59F/15C, the rest of the month was between 20 and 51F (-7 and +11C). There were only 3 days that were more than 5F/3C off the daily means, which is very unusual. I looked at the past few years:
March 2018: 4 days had a daily mean more than 5F from normal (5 doesn't count, 6 does). 0 days more than 10F, max 10.
March 2017: 14 days over 5F and 8 over 10F, max +26
March 2016: 18 days over 5 and 9 over 10, max +31
March 2015: 20 days over 5 and 8 over 10, max -21
March 2014: 21 days over 5 and 13 over 10, max -24
March 2013: 15 days over 5 and 4 over 10, max -20
March 2012: 24 days over 5 and 21 over 10, max +33
March 2012 was extremely warm and broke records, but the other months weren't record-breaking.
The lack of warm weather meant that the northern half of Wisconsin kept a snowpack the entire month despite not getting much snow or cold weather. That's not rare, but it doesn't happen every year.
