March 2020: Despite the worries of corona virus the weather went on, oblivious to the danger lurking in the air. While some may have not noticed, March was a wet month with above average snow as a consequence of a persistent upper level trough over the west. This brought one major snow and two moderate snow events. These storms generally kept polar air at bay giving us warmer than normal temperatures.

Precipitation: Snow totaled 30.2 inches, about two inches above normal. The liquid equivalent was 2.44 inches. The big event was over the two-day period on March 19 – 20, 2020, where most Peak to Peak locations had a foot and a half to two feet. My total was 18.5 inches with 1.54 inches of water. Other minor events of five inches or less occurred on March 1, 13 and 27, 2020.

Temperature: A bit warmer than normal with an average high of 43F and an average low of 24F. The average low was much warmer than the normal of 20F, driven upward by some breezy overnights. The highs and lows combined to give us a month that was three degrees above normal. The highest high was 55F on March 7, 2020. The lowest high was 29F on March 20, 2020, after our big snow. The lowest low was 13F on March 2, 2020.

Winds:  March was about average on winds with seven days of 40+mph and two days above 60mph. Windiest day was 70mph on March 12, 2020.

Other Features: Colorado experienced generally troughy conditions with many weak disturbances and one major one.

Outlook for April:  April is our snowiest month at 30.3 inches. The average high is a balmy 49F with lows at 25F. Winds diminish with only five windy days. The long-range models indicate a storm on April 2 – 3, 9, 11-12 and 15, 2020. The latter two indicate some significant arctic air surges with the snow. The last half of the month should see normal precipitation and slightly cooler than normal temperatures.