A mid-month snowstorm that dumped 17 inches of snow in Los Alamos highlighted March’s weather picture, which also included typical spring winds.
The March 14-15 storm, which led to the Laboratory closing, was brought on by a strong, slow moving low pressure system situated over New Mexico and Arizona, said Scot Johnson, a Laboratory meteorologist in Meteorology and Air Quality (ENV-MAQ).
He said cold air aloft providing buoyancy for warmer air below and upslope flow combined to lift the air, probably supplied with moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, leaving Northern New Mexico covered in deep snow. The Las Vegas area, particularly affected by upslope flow from the east, reported up to 34 inches of snow, said Johnson.
The storm added to the total of 22.2 inches of snow in March in Los Alamos, more than twice the normal snowfall for the month. For the season, 70.3 inches of snow has been measured in Los Alamos, surpassing the normal seasonal total of 58.7 inches, he added.
For all of March in Los Alamos, 1.91 inches of precipitation was recorded at the Technical Area 6 measuring station, or nearly one-third greater than the normal (1.28 inches) for the month.
To the east in White Rock, 1.63 inches of precipitation was recorded at the official measuring station at the corner of Pajarito Road and NM 4 in March, or nearly double the norm (.88) for the month.
Fluctuating temperatures were present in Los Alamos and White Rock in March with the month starting out warm but cooling after the heavy snow mid-month. Johnson said the snow reflected much of the sun’s energy, keeping temperatures down. Numerous cold temperature records were set last month, including low maximum temperatures of 26 degrees Fahrenheit on March 14 and 30 F the following day. The low temperature of 6 F on March 16 broke the previous low temperature mark of 14 F set in 1959.
In White Rock, low maximum temperatures records were set on March 14, 15 and 16 with temperatures of 31 F, 30 F and 33 F, said Johnson. Low temperatures of 5 F on March 16 and 12 F the next evening also established records, he added.
Johnson said Los Alamos’ mean maximum temperature in March was 47 degrees Fahrenheit, or 4 F below normal. The mean and mean minimum temperatures also were below or about normal for the month in Los Alamos and White Rock.
Johnson said the three-month forecast for April through June from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) calls for normal precipitation for April but better-than-normal precipitation for the area for May and June. Temperatures are forecasted to be normal in April and possibly below normal in May and June.
Wind gusts topping 40 miles per hour were recorded in Los Alamos on March 8, 20, 21, 29 and 30, with a top wind of 51 miles per hour on March 29. A 51-mile-per-hour wind gust also was recorded March 30 in White Rock. Johnson said average wind speeds of about 7.3 miles per hour were between 15 and 20 percent greater than normal for the two towns last month.
More information about weather in the region can be found at http://weather.lanl.gov online.
