CXUS51 KBUF 040243 CLMROC CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY 1012 AM EDT WED APR 01 2026 ................................... ...THE ROCHESTER NY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH 2026... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD: 1991 TO 2020 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1871 TO 2026 WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR'S VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE DATE(S) NORMAL ................................................................ TEMPERATURE (F) RECORD HIGH 86 03/29/1905 LOW -9 03/06/2014 HIGHEST 73 03/07 77 03/19 LOWEST 10 03/02 8 03/02 AVG. MAXIMUM 49.5 43.6 5.9 51.8 AVG. MINIMUM 29.2 26.8 2.4 29.6 MEAN 39.4 35.2 4.2 40.7 DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0 DAYS MAX <= 32 3 5.8 -2.8 1 DAYS MIN <= 32 23 23.2 -0.2 21 DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.2 -0.2 0 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 7.02 1873 MINIMUM 0.47 1958 TOTALS 5.89 2.49 3.40 2.30 DAYS >= .01 15 17 DAYS >= .10 9 5 DAYS >= .50 4 2 DAYS >= 1.00 1 0 GREATEST 24 HR. TOTAL 1.66 03/30 TO 03/31 0.54 03/16 TO 03/17 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 54.0 1900 TOTALS 6.2 17.9 -11.7 4.0 SINCE 7/1 113.8 98.9 14.9 MM SNOWDEPTH AVG. 0 0 DAYS >= 1.0 2 4.1 -2.1 2 DAYS >= 0.1 7 7 GREATEST SNOW DEPTH 3 03/17 1 03/03 03/07 03/08 24 HR TOTAL 3.4 03/16 TO 03/16 1.2 03/01 TO 03/02 DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 788 924 -136 745 SINCE 7/1 5677 5446 231 MM COOLING TOTAL 0 0 0 0 SINCE 1/1 0 0 0 MM ................................................................ WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 11.0 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 40/270 40/260 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 65/290 DATE 03/11 SKY COVER POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.78 NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 1 NUMBER OF DAYS PC 11 NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 19 AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 69 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 3 MIXED PRECIP 1 HEAVY RAIN 4 RAIN 8 LIGHT RAIN 18 FREEZING RAIN 0 LT FREEZING RAIN 3 HAIL 0 HEAVY SNOW 1 SNOW 2 LIGHT SNOW 16 SLEET 2 FOG 17 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 3 HAZE 2 - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. && ... WARM AND WET MONTH OF MARCH ... AFTER A METEOROLOGICAL WINTER THAT FEATURED PLENTY OF ARCTIC AIR, MILD DAYS RULED THE MONTH OF MARCH, THE FIRST MONTH OF METEOROLOGICAL SPRING, WITH COLD STRETCHES LIMITED TO JUST TWO OR THREE DAYS THROUGHOUT THE MONTH. IT WAS ALSO A WET MONTH WITH SEVERAL RAINY DAYS EVENLY SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE MONTH WITH A RECORD BREAKING PRECIPITATION EVENT ON THE 31ST PUSHING THE MONTH TO 4TH WETTEST ON RECORD. SNOW WAS LACKING WITH MOST OF THE SNOW FOR THE MONTH FALLING IN JUST ONE EVENT MID-MONTH. THE TEMPERATURE THIS MONTH AVERAGED 39.4°F WHICH IS JUST OVER FOUR DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. A 6 DAY STRETCH FROM THE 6TH THROUGH THE 11TH CARRIED THIS WELL ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURE MONTH, WITH THESE 6 DAYS AVERAGING 20.5 DEGREES ABOVE THEIR DAILY NORMAL TEMPERATURE. THE 9 DAYS REACHING 60F OR WARMER RANKED 8TH GREATEST FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH. THERE WERE THREE RECORD TEMPERATURES THIS MONTH. THE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE ON THE 7TH OF 73°F SMASHED THE OLD RECORD OF 68°F, WHILE THE MINIMUM TEMPERATURE ON THE 7TH OF 51°F TOPPLED THE FORMER RECORD OF 50°F SET BACK IN 1876. THE 69°F TEMPERATURE ON THE 10TH ALSO BROKE THE FORMER RECORD OF 68°F LAST SET BACK IN 2021. PRECIPITATION TOTALED 5.89 INCHES, 4TH WETTEST ON RECORD FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH. THIS IS THE WETTEST MONTH SINCE JUNE OF 2025. THE FOUR DAYS TALLYING MORE THAN A HALF AN INCH OF PRECIPITATION IS TIED FOR FOURTH GREATEST ALL-TIME FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH. THERE WERE TWO PRECIPITATION RECORDS ESTABLISHED. THE 0.95 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION ON THE 11TH BROKE THE FORMER RECORD OF 0.92 INCHES SET BACK IN 1936. ADDITIONALLY, THE 1.65 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION ON THE 31ST BROKE THE FORMER RECORD OF 1.22 INCHES SET BACK IN 2017. DESPITE THE 4TH GREATEST PRECIPITATION TOTAL FOR THE MONTH, THERE WERE ONLY 15 DAYS WITH MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION, ONE DAY FEWER THAN THE MONTHLY NORMAL. SNOW ACCUMULATION FOR THE MONTH TOTALED 6.2 INCHES WHICH IS ALMOST A FOOT BELOW NORMAL. MOST OF THE SNOW FELL IN ONE EVENT, THIS ON THE 16TH AND INTO THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF THE 17TH OF THE MONTH. A FLOW OF COLD AIR CONTINUED FROM THE WINTER MONTHS INTO THE FIRST FEW DAYS OF MARCH, WITH BELOW FREEZING TEMPERATURES ON THE FIRST THREE DAYS OF THE MONTH. A FEW SNOW SHOWERS ON THE 1ST COATED THE GROUND IN SNOW. A WARMING TREND STARTED ON THE 3RD, AND CULMINATED ON THE 7TH WHEN THE THERMOMETER HIT 73 DEGREES. THIS WAS THE FIRST 70 DEGREE READING OF THE YEAR, AND OCCURRED ABOUT FOUR WEEKS EARLIER THAN NORMAL. ENDING THE WARMTH WAS A STRONG COLD FRONT LATER ON THE 7TH, ONE THAT BORE SHOWERS AND A FEW SOUTHERN TIER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THAT BROUGHT DOWN TREES. SEVERAL ROUNDS OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ON THE 11TH THROUGH THE DAYLIGHT HOURS TOTALED NEARLY AN INCH OF RAINFALL AT THE ROCHESTER AIRPORT. THE 11TH THROUGH THE 17TH ALSO FEATURED A WINDY PERIOD FOR THE MONTH, WITH 5 OF THE 7 DATES GUSTING OVER 50 MPH. TEMPERATURES ON THE 16TH SOARED TO THE MID 60S BY EARLY AFTERNOON HOURS BEFORE A STRONG COLD FRONT PASSED THROUGH, WITH WINTER'S CHILL FOLLOWING ALONG WITH SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW. ADDITIONAL WAVES OF RAIN FROM PASSING STORM SYSTEMS BUILT MARCH TO THE FOURTH WETTEST ON RECORD, WITH THESE EVENTS OCCURRING ON THE 20TH, 22ND, 26TH AND LASTLY LATE ON THE 30TH AND THE 31ST OF THE MONTH WHEN WIDESPREAD TWO TO THREE INCHES OF RAIN FLOODED PARTS OF WNY. AREA CREEKS SWELLED WITH SEVERAL CREEKS AND RIVERS IN THE GENESEE VALLEY BREACHING THEIR BANKS WITH MINOR TO MODERATE FLOODING. THIS BROUGHT SEVERAL ROAD CLOSURES ACROSS THE REGION. ADDITIONALLY ON THE FINAL DAY OF THE MONTH A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PASSED FROM LAKE ERIE INLAND WITH LARGE AND NUMEROUS HAIL ALONG WITH DAMAGING WIND GUSTS ACROSS SOUTHERN ERIE AND NORTHERN CATTARAUGUS COUNTIES, AND LATER SPAWNED AN EF-1 TORNADO NEAR MACHIAS. THIS WAS THE FIRST MARCH TORNADO IN NEW YORK STATE SINCE 1976. LAKE WATER TEMPERATURES REMAINED IN THE MID TO UPPER 30S THROUGH THE MONTH. WIND SPEED WAS ABOVE NORMAL FOR THE MONTH, WITH THE FIVE DATES WITH WIND GUSTS OVER 50 MPH OCCURRING FOR JUST THE SECOND TIME SINCE 2007. THE OTHER TIME WAS JUST TWO MONTHS PRIOR IN JANUARY. THE STRONGEST GUST WAS 65 MPH OCCURRING DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS OF THE 11TH, IN CONJUNCTION WITH A STRONG COLD FRONT PASSAGE.  IN ALL, AN ACTIVE MONTH WITH SEVERAL LARGE RAIN EVENTS ENDING THE MONTH WITH FLOODING. && THOMAS $$