Coldest March On Record

It's been COLD this month. In fact, many are saying it is the coldest March they have ever seen. Well, if you were born after 1960, that's true! As of today, the average temperature for Jonesboro is 43.0 for the month of March°. If the month ended today, it would be the third coldest March on record! Of course, if the month ended today, we would have bigger problems than being cold. :)

Here are the Top 10 coldest Marches on record as of now (prior to this year):

1. 38.8°F 1960
2. 42.4°F 1915
3. 43.2°F 1965
4. 43.8°F 1906
5. 44.0°F 1896
6. 44.6°F 1958
7. 44.9°F 2013
8. 45.4°F 1978
9. 45.5°F 1924
10. 45.8°F 1912
Source: NWS, Memphis

As of now, 2014 will go down as the third coldest on record. Let's look back at the two years that had a colder March. As you know, I enjoy looking at old, handwritten, climate logs. I pulled this first one from March of 1960 (click to enlarge):

If you look closely, March of 1960 was an active month! I thought it was interesting that SLEET was a problem for them during the March of 1960. I think we would all agree that sleet was an issue for us in 2014 as well! Also, notice how warm it gets at the end of the month and notice how they had hail and tornadoes.

Now, let's look at the second coldest March on record. This is March of 1915. Click to enlarge:



As you see in the above image, it was very cold on several nights and the daytime highs never hit 70°. They also had snow on the 30th, so it's always possible!

It appears that we will end the month with temperatures above average, so I would guess that we will not end the month as the 3rd coldest, but being in the Top 5 is likely.

Stay warm tomorrow!
Ryan