Snowy March 2013

On March 4-8 this storm produced heavy snow from the Northern Plains to the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast:

 

Snowfall amounts included 29.8" at Milton, MA, 20.3" as far south as Fisherville, VA, and 10.0" at Chicago O'Hare Airport. A 64 mph wind gust was reported at Tuckerton, NJ.

One of the reasons for these late season snowstorms has been a persistently negative Arctic Oscillation, particularly from mid February to early April. The Arctic Oscillation for the month of March 2013 was -2.535, which is the lowest value since December 2010 which was -2.631. The Arctic Oscillation dropped below -5 on March 19th when a 1074 mb high developed over Greenland:

On March 23rd, another storm prompted winter storm watches/warnings from Colorado to Ohio:

This storm set a new all-time 24 hour snowfall record at Springfield, IL of 17.4" on the 24th-25th. The total at Springfield was 18.5". Other snowfall amounts are 19.4" at Beluh, CO; 11.6 at Denver International Airport; 15.0" at Goodland, KS; 15.1" at Harvester, MO; 16" at Redhouse, MD. Valdosta, GA recieved 4.80" of rain.

A 948 mb storm in the North Atlantic on March 28th: