Warmest and 3rd Rainiest March on Record, No Fooling!

March 10 sunset

     Yesterday's high of 18.8°C in Winnipeg was just 0.1 degrees shy of the old record of 18.9°C in 1963. The sunshine and temperatures that were 14°C above normal were a fitting end to an unprecedented month. As a result of yesterday's warmth, the monthly March mean temperature jumped to 2.2°C, easily making March 2012 the warmest March on record since records began in 1872. That's a whopping 8.3°C above the normal mean of -6.1°C, and 0.6° warmer than the previous warmest March of 1.6°C in 1878.

Top 5 warmest Marches in Winnipeg

1.  2012  ......   2.2°C
2.  1878  ......   1.6°C
3.  1910  ......   1.2°C
4.  1973  ......   0.5°C
5.  2000  ......  -0.1°C

     Daytime highs were also the warmest on record with an average of 8.0°C, 0.8° warmer than the previous warmest average of 7.2°C in 1910. Daily lows were the second warmest on record with an average of -3.6°C, just 0.2° shy of number one honours which belongs to 1878 with an average of -3.4°C.

     The month started cool and very snowy, with a major snowstorm on the first 2 days of the month. Sorry for reminding you lol! The storm dumped 10-15 cm of snow over the city, and raising snow depths up to 25 cm. This ensured that this March would not be one of the least snowy on record.

     The tables made a full 180° degree turn on March 10 when all of a sudden temperatures were consistently in the double digits for the next 2 weeks! That 25 cm snow depth melted down to 0 cm in just 4 days! The lack of snow cover allowed temperatures to soar to May-like values by the 16th. This particular bout of unprecendeted warmth would continue up to the 23rd. Day after day records were not only broken, they were obliterated. Some records were broken by over 7 degrees!! By the 24th, at least 25 records were shattered during the historic weather event, not only for temperature though. The entire list of records can be viewed here.

     Some temperature highlights include the earliest 20°C + day on record (March 18 at 20.9°C), the all-time March high temperature (March 19 at 23.7°C), the all-time March high daily minimum temperature (March 19 at 13.3°C), the all-time most above normal day for temperature for any day of the year (+23.4°C above normal on March 19), and the all-time March high humidex (humidex of 28 on March 19).

     Strangely, thunderstorms also made their appearance on a few occasions this March. 4 events brought lightning to southern Manitoba. 2 particularly intense events brought the biggest surprises on March 19 and on the night of March 26/27. Frequent lightning was seen during both events, as well as torrential downpours, and even some pea to dime sized hail early March 27. Storms were intense enough to ground flights on March 19, and both events knocked out power to many. Several rain events during the second half of the month made this March the 3rd rainiest March on record with 43.5 mm at the airport for the month.

Top 5 rainiest Marches in Winnipeg

1.  1945  .......  67.6 mm
2.  1878  .......  59.9 mm
3.  2012  .......  43.5 mm
4.  1902  .......  42.7 mm
5.  1983  .......  40.4 mm

March Photo Gallery

Name of authors included if I did not take the picture. Be sure to check The Weather Network's viewer photo gallery regularly to view awesome pics such as these.

March snow melt Progression from March 10 to 14. My own pics from my yard.

March 23 seed pods already coming out on my maple tree.
This is a full month earlier than normal!