Mild March, Cooler April

Good Evening! No foolin around here on this blog. We had a Cool, Cloudy weekend here in Indianapolis. Below Normal Saturday with a high of 55°. This morning we had 2 rounds of storms. The first featured a few flashes of lightning, a rumble  of thunder, & a quick heavy downpour of around a half inch. The 2nd batch was not as bad, just some showers that accumulated a hr to 0.19". A warm front also moved in, temps soared from 40s after 10am to 70s after 1pm. The combination of storms this morning, and afternoon sun, has resulted in evening thunderstorms as well, as the atmosphere is "CAPED" (Convective Available Potential Energy), this breaking allowing storm activity to stir up a recipe of hail, damaging winds, and an isolated chance for a tornado. As I mentioned in a previous blog, there is always atleast a 1% chance for Tornado with ALL Thunderstorm Activity. Also, keep in mind, lightning can strike anywhere. If you are standing outside, you can be struck. Good rule of thumb, even if conditions do not exist for severe weather, take shelter anyway during a Thunderstorm. At 7pm, the CAPE broke in Western Indiana stirring up thunderstorm activity. After 9pm Thunderstorm activity broke in Central and North, East Central Indiana, stretching East, unattached. It will not last very long either. This will move out and we will dry out tomorrow morning. Looking at Cloudy Day with some peaks of sunshine from time to time.Temperatures in low to mid 70s.

March Summary
Well guys the Wacky Month of March is over. Yes, it did go down as the Warmest March on Record. After one of the Mildest End to February where the temperature was 1° shy of 70s, the month of March opened up on a more chillier side. This after the devasting Severe Weather Day on March 2nd. A strong low pressure system moving from Indiana to Michigan spun up Tornadoes that killed over a dozen people in Southern Indiana. On Saturday, the 3rd we had the coolest day of the month where the high temperature failed to get out of the 30s. On the 4th & 5th we had our last measureable snowfall totaling 0.7". This bumped our city out of the running for Top 10 least snowiest winters by 0.1" bringing our grand total to 9.8" for the season. But this cooler air was short lived. We began a warm up then the bubble of record breaking warmth began to settle in, as a upper level ridge sat into the Midwest for 2 weeks. This warmth also Spreaded out to the East Coast and the Upper Midwest. They broke records in the Dakotas. We recorded 7 day with temps in the 80s. Thats a record. We recorded 14 days above 70, thats a record. We had a 21 day streak of Above Normal Temps. Thats a record. We also set Warmest Record Low Temperatures four times, We finished the month with a avg temp running 15° above normal. We also finished the month with above normal precipitation. Once again for the 4th straight month, we were below normal by nearly 2" of snowfall. On the 21st we recorded our highest temperature for the month 84°, this 1° shy from the ALL TIME HIGHEST RECORD TEMP FOR MARCH of 85° set back on March 31, 1981 (30 yrs ago). On the 26th we had one of the coolest days since March 10th with temps in 50s, but still an Above Normal Day. Morning Lows the day after dipped back into the 30s but we were sparred frost due to winds that were blowing 10-15mph. We snapped the streak for most consecutive days with above normal temps the last day of March where temps failed to reach the upper 50s, which is average for this day. Below is a photo for Top Ten Least Snowiest Winters in Indy and my updated list of record events for the year thus far, JAN-MAR.Also, I scrunched the numbers together and give the Average Temperature Data for the month, and final snowfall and rainfall amounts.

Here's a list of Record Events this year. Jan 2012-Mar 2012:

1. January 31st, 2012-Highest Minimum Temp Set of 50°. Previous Record. 48° in 1988.
2. We had the warmest stretch of mild days to End January and Begin February on record.
3. February 29, 2012-Highest Minimum Temp Set of 45°. Previous Record 44° in 1976.
4. March 14, 2012-Record High Temperature Set of 81°. Previous Record 79°. in 1990.
5. March 15, 2012-Record High Temperature Set of 80°. Previous Record 77° in 1977.
6. March 17, 2012-Record High Temperature Set of 77°. Previous Record 76° in 1894.
7. March 18, 2012-Warmest Low Temperature Tied. 60° was set back in 1874.
8. March 18, 2012-Record High Temperature Set of 80°. Previous Record 76° in 1903.
9. March 18-2012-New Record Event. This day marks the 7th consecutive day with temps 70° or above. Previous Record was 6 Days set 1998.*
10. March 19, 2012-Record High Temperature Set of 82°. Previous Record 78° in 1921.
11. March 19, 2012-Warmest Low Temperature Recorded of 64°. Previous Record 60° in 1903.
12. March 20, 2012-Record High Temperature Set of 83°. Previous Record 80° in 1894.
13.March 20, 2012-Warmest Low Temperature Recorded of 63°. Previous Record 62° in 1921.
14. March 21, 2012-Record High Temperature Set of 84°. Previous Record 82 in 1907.
15. March 21, 2012-Warmest Low Temperature Recorded of 62°. Previous Record 58° in 2011.
16. Warmest March on Record. Acutal Avg March 2012 Temp-56.6°. Avg March Monthly Temp-42°. Previous Record for Warmest March-51.9° set in 1910.
17. Record Set for 7 Days with Temps in 80s.
18. Record Set for Longest Streak of (5) 80° Days in March. Recorded March 18nd-22nd
19. Most Consecutive Days of 70° and above in March-Streak of 11 Days. This record event recorded for period March 12th-22nd.
20. Most Days of 70° and Above in March-14 Days.
21. Record Set for Most Consecutive Days Above Normal For Any Month of March-21 Days Recorded.
*RECORD EVENT #9 CONTINUED ON AND FINISHED ON MARCH 22ND AS TEMPS FELL TO A HIGH OF 69° FOR THE 23RD. AS YOU CAN SEE ON RECORD EVENT #19, WE FINISHED WITH A STREAK OF 11 DAYS WITH TEMPS 70° AND ABOVE.

March Temperature Data
Avg High 52° Avg Low 33° Avg Temp 42°
March 2012: Avg High 67°. This High Temperature is 15° above the normal high for March.
March 2012: Avg Low 46°. This Low Temperature is 13°: above the normal low for March.
March 2012: Avg Temp 57°. This Avg Temperature is 15° above the normal avg temp for March.
Temperatures departed a total of 504° above normal. About 84% of the month was above normal and only 5 days of the month were below normal.
We had (1) day with high temps in the 30s, (3) in the 40s, (4) in the 50s, (9) in the 60s, (7) in the 70s, and (7) days in the 80s.

Rainfall Data
March Avg Rainfall: 3.56"
March 2012 Rainfall: 4.14". This Rainfall Amount recorded is 0.58" above average for March.

March Snowfall Data
March Avg Snowfall: 2.6"
March 2012 Snowfall: 0.7". This Snowfall Amount recorded is 1.9" below average for March.

Work Week
Temperatures are expected to be in the low to upper 70s Monday-Wednesday. We have a shot of Showers, Possibly T'Storms Tuesday. Dry for Wednesday. Cooler Thursday with a small rain chance. Temps in low to mid 60s to finish the work week. Temps Warming to upper 60s, low 70s for the Easter Weekend with sunny skies. More details to come.

April Averages
As we begin the April here are some quick avgs for the month:
Avg High increases from 58° on the 1st to 68° on the 30th.
Avg Low increases from 38° on the 1st to 48° on the 30th.
Average Rainfall for the Month is 3.81".
Not uncommon to record snowfall in April. The avg is 0.2".
Sometimes a late winter rush of cold air can push into Indiana causing temperatures to drop at or below freezing. Usually the Average last freeze occurs in this month around April 20th. As listed in photo below, each April in the last 5 yrs have featured a day with a temperature of 32° or below.

What's Ahead
Patterns are showing a sign of a pullback. However, it may not be as potent as originally thought. We will contend with mostly 60s and 70s for much of the first 10 days. A cold spell looks to be in store shortly after Easter. Low temperatures could fall near freezing with highs struggling to hit the 50s. This maybe brief. Temps may begin to warm again late mid month. With pools of cooler air comes severe weather. Expect a Wet Month where precipitation totals may finish above normal. Generally, April is ranked equally with December, January, February, & March as the Top 5 Most Cloudiest Months of the Year in Indiana.

Here's my 10 Day Outlook, Updated Temperature/Rainfall/Snowfall Data:

Tonight
Partly Cloudy. Cool. Low 53.
Monday
Mostly Sunny. Mild. High 76.

Monday Night
Becoming Mostly Cloudy. Chance of Rain/T'Storms after midnight. Low 58.

Tuesday
Mostly Cloudy. Chance of T'Storms. High 74.

Tuesday Night
Mostly Cloudy. Chance of T'Storms. Cooler. Winds Shift from the South to North. Low 48.

Wednesday
Clearing. Becoming Sunny. Not as Warm. High 62.

Wednesday Night
Mostly Clear. Cool. Low 44.

Thursday
Mixed Sun & Clouds. Chance of Pop up Showers/T'Storms. High 61.

Thursday Night
Clear Skies. Cool. Low 40.

Friday
Bright Sunny Skies. High 65.

Friday Night
Clear Skies. Cool. Low 45.

Saturday
Partly Sunny. Warmer. High 71.

Saturday Night
Partly Cloudy. Low 50.

EASTER
Partly Sunny. Mild. High 70.

Sunday Night
Partly Cloudy. Low 47.

Monday
Partly Cloudy. Chance of Rain. Not as Warm. High 59.

Monday Night
Cloudy. Low 45.

Tuesday
Cloudy. Chance of Rain. High 60.

Tuesday Night
Coudy. Scattered Showers. Cool. Low 42.
Wednesday
AM Rain PM Mixed Sun & Clouds. Cooler. High 55.

Temperature Data
Todays High-----76
Todays Low------45
Avg Temp---------61

Rainfall Data
Today Precip-------0.63"
Since March 1st---4.77"
Since Jan 1st-----9.63"

Snowfall Data
Since March 1st----0.7"
Since Jan 1st------7.5"
Since Dec 1st------9.8"
**Currently 8.2% of the Nations Ground is covered in Snow. Down 28% from last month & 13.5% from last year.