March 2001 featured the return of the rain for parts of eastern and central PA, while western PA stayed mostly on the dry side. Temperature-wise, the first two-thirds of the month were characterized by several modest cool and warm spells, but the very chilly final week dragged average temps for March 2001 down to about two or three degrees below normal.

On the first day of March 2001, temperatures were just a bit below seasonable and a few snow showers rode the jet stream across the northern tier of Pennsylvania. A small warming trend took place during the next two days. By the Saturday the 3^rd, high temperatures in eastern Pennsylvania were topping 50 degrees. Western PA stayed a bit cooler, with many areas remaining in the low 40’s.

On Sunday the 4^th, cold air funneled in from the northeast and mixed wintry precipitation overspread the state. This was the first round in the storm that was hyped to no end by the news media throughout the northeastern U.S. Central and northeastern PA received a modest accumulation of snow, while the snow and mixed precip was lighter across the southern tier. State College received 9.5 inches, while 4 to 5 inches was common in northeastern PA on the 4^th.

A few more inches fell in eastern PA on Monday the 5^th as the storm reorganized off the Mid-Atlantic coast, but now it was mainly a problem for New York and New England. Scattered snow showers continued on the back side of the storm through Tuesday the 6^th. Temperatures during this time fell back to around the freezing point for most of our state, but managed the mid 30’s in southeastern sections.

A new, fairly weak, storm system began affecting Pennsylvania by the evening of Thursday the 8^th, spreading light rain and snow showers across the state. This storm intensified a bit as it moved off the east coast but was by then beyond the point of bothering Pennsylvanians.

Temperatures dropped a bit behind this storm, with highs throughout the mid 30’s for much of Pennsylvania (but up into the mid 40’s southeast). We then warmed up to about seasonable levels for the next couple days. Overnight lows remained cool, mostly in the 20’s, though some teens were reported in the west.

A weak front moved through on Sunday the 11^th with little precipitation and even less effect on temperature. Monday was a quiet and mild day until that evening, when an area of heavy rain associated with a new frontal system began to overspread the state. The front passes on Tuesday morning, but areas of showers and even some embedded thunderstorms persisted into the early morning hours of Wednesday the 14^th. Many spots in Pennsylvania reported up to a half inch or more of rain from this storm.

A vigorous storm system stretched itself out from the southeastern U.S. back into the central plains. Southern PA caught some rain from this system on Thursday the 15^th. Temperatures remained mild, with highs near 50 common throughout the state. The next day the back side of the storm swung through our region, bringing colder air and some mixed wintry precipitation for northern and central PA. The southern tier stayed all rain. Most areas picked up a few tenths of an inch of precipitation by the time the storm moved out late on St. Patrick’s Day, Saturday the 17^th.

The next two days featured beautiful clear skies and seasonably comfortable highs throughout the 40’s.

But then the spring season began, accompanied by a powerful storm that formed over the southeastern U.S. Clouds moved in late on Tuesday the 20^th but the main even came on the 21^st, with heavy rain overspreading much of state as the storm system moved from southwest to northeast across our region of the country. There was enough cold air in northern PA to allow the beginning of the precipitation to fall as snow, but accumulations were minimal in most population centers. Rainfall totals on the order of an inch were not uncommon by the time this storm moved out the following day.

The 22nd and 23rd were mostly dry, with temperatures seasonably but dropping. The cool-down really got going during the next two days, when a cold front passed by with just a little precipitation, but a lot of cold air behind it. Temperatures struggled to get out of the 20’s in western Pennsylvania during the 25^th and 26^th. Through Tuesday the 27^th scattered snow showers dotted western and central PA. Temperatures in eastern PA struggled toward 40 during this time. Temperatures state-wide warmed up a little under sunny skies for Wednesday the 28^th, though they were still about seven to ten degrees below normal.

Another powerful storm system developed in the southeastern part of the U.S. and began to move rapidly up the coast on Thursday the 29^th. By midday on Friday the 30^th, many locations in central and eastern PA had received one to two inches of rain. Far western PA got much less. The same storm produced significant flooding in parts of southeastern New England. The last day of the month was a gray one in Pennsylvania, with just a few scattered showers. High temperatures during the last three days of the month were mainly in the 40’s, with some upper 30’s in the northern extremes.

-Evan Blaisdell

March 2001 Extremes for Pennsylvania