Weather highlights March 27 – April 2, 2022

Another week of active weather included a severe weather outbreak, which swept eastward from the central and southern Plains to the middle and southern Atlantic States from March 29-31. During the outbreak’s peak, on March 30, dozens of tornadoes were spotted across the South, extending as far north as southern Illinois. Before dawn on March 31, two tornado-related fatalities were reported in northern Florida near Alford. Heavy rain accompanied the severe weather, with 1- to 3-inch totals common from the mid-South into the Southeast. Higher totals (4 inches or more) were observed across the northern part of Florida’s peninsula, with the bulk of the rain falling on April 1-2. Significant rain also fell in parts of the Midwest, from Missouri to Michigan. However, only light precipitation dampened the drought affected High Plains, with meaningful totals in the nation’s mid-section largely limited to the northern and eastern Plains. Much of the West also received little or no precipitation, although briefly heavy amounts occurred mainly on March 28 in coastal sections of central and southern California. Meanwhile, unusually cold weather prevailed for much of the week from the Midwest into the middle and northern Atlantic States, where temperatures averaged as much as 5 to 10°F below normal. The remainder of the country, including the West and the Deep South, experienced near- or above-normal temperatures. Weekly readings averaged at least 5°F above normal in much of western, central, and southern Texas, as well as broad sections of the western U.S.

Sub-zero temperatures were reported in portions of the upper Great Lakes region. In Minnesota, Hibbing noted a daily-record low of -4°F on March 28. Several daily-record lows also occurred in the middle Atlantic States and the lower Great Lakes region. On March 29, temperatures dipped to 22°F in Islip, NY, and 14°F in Youngstown, OH. Atlantic City, NJ, posted consecutive daily record lows (21 and 20°F, respectively) on March 29-30. Prior to the coldest mornings, March 28 was a remarkably chilly day in the Northeast, with maximum temperatures failing to reach the 20- degree mark in locations such as Saranac Lake, NY (13°F), and Montpelier, VT (19°F). In contrast, lingering warmth across the South resulted in a few daily-record highs, including 95°F (on March 28) in San Angelo, TX, and 91°F (on March 29) in Fort Myers, FL. Warmth was more persistent in the West, where the week began on March 27 with daily-record highs in dozens of locations, including El Paso, TX (88°F); Hanksville, UT (85°F); Grand Junction, CO (78°F); and Pocatello, ID (75°F). By March 28, warmth briefly overspread the High Plains, resulting in daily record highs in Lubbock, TX (94°F), and Great Falls, MT (72°F). Late in the month, warm weather abruptly replaced previously cold conditions in the East. In the Ohio Valley, record-setting high temperatures for March 30 soared to 84°F in Louisville, KY, and 83°F in Parkersburg, WV. At week’s end, Western winds increased in advance of an approaching storm system; in Montana, peak gusts on April 2 were clocked to 65 mph at Dillon Airport and 61 mph in Bozeman.

With cold air in place during the first half of the week across the Northeast, snow showers were common. Pittsburgh, PA, received 4.3 inches of snow from March 26-28, aided by a daily-record sum of 2.5 inches on the 27th. With a monthly snowfall of 17.1 inches, Pittsburgh completed its snowiest March since 1993, when 34.1 inches fell. Meanwhile, heavy showers grazed coastal and near coastal areas of California, where Santa Barbara netted a daily record total (1.27 inches) for March 28. Rainfall for the 28th also topped an inch in southern California locations such as Sandberg (1.64 inches), Oxnard (1.33 inches), downtown Los Angeles (1.32 inches), Burbank (1.25 inches), Camarillo (1.21 inches), and Santa Maria (1.02 inches). Later, snow blanketed portions of the Plains and upper Midwest. Record-setting totals for March 30 reached 3.3 inches in Duluth, MN; 3.1 inches in Aberdeen, SD; and 2.4 inches in Wichita, KS. Farther east, heavy rain across Michigan led to record-setting totals for March 30 in Muskegon (1.18 inches) and Saginaw (1.08 inches). As the month ended, contrasting precipitation extremes resulted in the driest March on record in Del Rio, TX (a trace, tying five other years), and the wettest March on record in Gainesville, FL (12.59 inches; previously, 11.13 inches in 1996). As April began, a new round of heavy rain overspread parts of Florida. With a total of 4.46 inches on the 1st, Melbourne, FL, experienced its wettest April day on record (previously, 4.29 inches on April 4, 1973). Florida’s rain lingered into April 2, when daily-record amounts reached 2.45 inches in Vero Beach and 1.64 inches in Leesburg. Meanwhile, some additional snow fell in the Midwest; Waterloo, IA, measured a daily-record sum of 3.0 inches on April 2.

Mild weather covered much of Alaska, with weekly temperatures averaging more than 10°F above normal in a few western locations. The snow depth in Anchorage continued to decrease, after peaking at 30 inches on March 6. By April 2, Anchorage reported 17 inches of snow on the ground. Similarly, the snow depth in Fairbanks decreased from 39 to 31 inches between March 1 and April 2. Fairbanks also noted high temperatures ranging from 43 to 45°F each day from March 25-28. Although many areas in Alaska experienced mostly dry weather, Kodiak collected a daily-record total (1.43 inches) for March 27—and reported a monthly sum of 10.41 inches (216 percent of normal). Meanwhile in Hawaii, warm weather accompanied generally light showers. On March 30, Honolulu, Oahu, posted a daily record-tying high of 86°F. At the state’s major airport observation sites, March rainfall ranged from 0.19 inch (7 percent of normal) in Kahului, Maui, to 4.31 inches (34 percent) in Hilo, on the Big Island.

Source: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/wwcb.pdf