National Climatic Data Center, 15 April 2003

• March Precipitation
• Precipitation Departures
• Last 3 months (Jan-Mar)
• Last 12 months (Apr-Mar)

  ---

• U.S.Temperatures
• North America Snow Season

March Precipitation

larger image

The graph to the left is a time series depicting precipitation averaged across the contiguous U.S. Based upon preliminary precipitation data, March 2003 was near average, ranking 51st driest.

Nine states from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes averaged drier than the 109-year mean for March 2003, with 4 additional states (Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia) ranking much below average. Fourteen states from the Pacific Northwest and along the front range of the Rockies as well as in the Southeast ranked above average. Three states (Washington, Colorado and South Carolina) were much above average in March, where Washington had its 2nd wettest such month in the last 109 years. Snow and rainfall in March helped to bring short-term drought relief to parts of the western U.S. which has been suffering from drought conditions for several years. For more details on drought across the country, please click on the U.S. drought page.

larger image

larger image

The graph to the left is a time series depicting precipitation for March 2003 averaged across the Primary Corn and Soybean Belt. The growing season runs from March to September for corn and soybeans and preliminary data indicate that precipitation was below average for the growing season as of the end of March 2003. Precipitation averaged across this region was about 1 inch below the long-term mean in March. Much of this region had below average precipitation over the last 6 months making for a slow start to the growing season.

Precipitation Departures

Some of the precipitation which fell in March was in the form of snow. Click to the snow page for more details on March and the season-to-date. A snow storm in the central Rockies in mid-March produced upwards of 7 feet of snow in some mountain locations west of Denver,CO. The totals in some of the more familiar cities include: Boulder, CO with 51 inches (130 cm), Golden, CO with 50.5 inches (128 cm), Fort Collins, CO areas with 25 to 35 inches (64 to 89 cm) and Cheyenne, WY with over 18 inches (46 cm). Denver set a record for the snowiest March on record with a total of 35.2 inches (89 cm) of snow. It should be noted that this also ranks as the 3rd snowiest month on record (57.4 inches [146 cm] fell in December 1913 and 42.6 inches [108 cm] in November 1946). For more records during March 2003, see NCDC's Extremes Page.

larger image

January-March 2003

larger image

The graph to the left is a time series depicting precipitation averaged across the contiguous U.S. Based upon preliminary precipitation data, January -March 2003 was drier than average, ranking 26th driest in the last 109 years. This was the 4th consecutive January-March period with below average precipitation, nationally.

larger image

January-March 2003 was among the top 10 driest January-March periods on record in 4 states in the Great Lakes region. Minnesota and Iowa each had their 5th driest January-March period in the past 109 years. Below average precipitation during January-March 2003 occurred in 17 states, primarily in the South, the Great Lakes region and in New England. Above average precipitation occurred in 11 states including some in the Mid-Atlantic region and the western U.S. January-March precipitation brought short-term relief to parts of the West that were experiencing long-term drought conditions.

National Precipitation - April 2002-March 2003

larger image

The graph to the left is a time series depicting precipitation averaged across the contiguous U.S. Based upon preliminary precipitation data, April 2002-March 2003 was near average, ranking 46th driest in the last 108 such periods. The last 4 April-March periods have averaged below the long term mean.

The pattern of state-averaged April 2002-March 2003 precipitation can be seen in the map to the right. Nebraska reported its 6th driest April-March on record. Fifteen states, primarily from the West Coast to the central Plains, were below normal. Seventeen states extending from the Gulf Coast up through parts of New England were above average for April 2002-March 2003 and Delaware ranked 8th wettest. More information on drought analysis for these states and others can be found on NCDC's Drought Pages.

larger image

Questions?

For all climate questions other than questions concerning this report, please contact the National Climatic Data Center's Climate Services Division:

For further information on the historical climate perspective presented in this report, contact:

NCDC / Climate Monitoring / Climate of 2003 / Mar / National Precip. / Search / Help