March 2009 Climate Summary

For a more detailed climate summary which includes more figures, data tables, and state summaries, click here.

Temperature

In March the majority of the High Plains region was near normal with the monthly average temperature departures ranging from 2˚F (1.1˚C) below normal to 2˚F (1.1˚C) above normal.  Warmer pockets of the region were in western, central, and southern Colorado, southern Wyoming, and western Kansas where monthly temperature departures ranged from 2˚F to 6˚F (1.1˚C to 3.3˚C) above normal.  North Dakota and northern South Dakota were the cold areas in the region with average temperatures that were well below normal.  Most of North Dakota recorded average temperatures that ranged from 4˚F to 10˚F (2.2˚C to 5.5˚C) below normal, however this cold weather was not record breaking.

Precipitation

The big story this month was in eastern North Dakota, where record precipitation coupled with warm temperatures led to record breaking flooding along the Red River.  On March 28, the Red River at Fargo crested at 40.82 feet.  This breaks the old record of 40.1 feet recorded April 7, 1897.  Contributing to the flooding is the record precipitation that occurred across eastern North Dakota.  Fargo, ND is this month’s “extreme” location which recorded both the wettest and snowiest March on record.  The Hector International Airport in Fargo received 4.62 inches (117.35 mm) of liquid equivalent precipitation, or 395% of normal precipitation.  This shattered the previous record of 2.83 inches (71.88 mm) recorded in 1882.  A record snowfall of 28.1 inches (71.37 cm) fell at the Fargo Hector International Airport which broke the old record of 26.2 inches (66.55 cm) set in 1997.  More information about the flood may be found in the State Spotlight for North Dakota on page 5.

Climate Outlook

This month La Niña conditions continued, but have recently weakened and are expected to continue to weaken through Spring 2009.  NOAA forecasters at the Climate Prediction Center are predicting chances of above normal temperatures for southwestern Colorado and below normal temperatures for the extreme western portion of North Dakota.  Equal chances of above, near, or below normal temperatures are predicted for the remainder of the region.  Below normal precipitation is predicted for Wyoming, most of Colorado, and the panhandle of Nebraska.  Elsewhere in the region, equal chances of above, near, or below normal precipitation are predicted.  More information about these forecasts can be found here.

Drought Outlook

Drought conditions remain largely unchanged in South Dakota, Wyoming, and Nebraska, however drought conditions across Colorado and Kansas have worsened.  Abnormally dry conditions (D0) now extend across the northern half of Kansas, moderate drought conditions (D1) extend through the central portion of Colorado and severe drought conditions (D2) have developed along the Kansas/Oklahoma border.  Drought conditions are forecasted to persist with little or no improvement through June 2009, according to the U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook released March 19.