Last week saw temperatures start near average, warm briefly on Sunday, March 30, and turn colder than average for the rest of the week. Jonathan
Cohen

For the period, they were below average by 2 degrees for the second week in a row. The main weather story again was a heavy, wet snowstorm, as March certainly went out like a lion after coming in like a lamb.

The snowfall on March 31 was the most on a calendar day this season, and our seasonal total has now pushed a bit above average at 59.0 inches. We will probably see a little more snow in April.

Looking at March as a whole, it was on the cold and wet side and very snowy. The average temperature was 27.2 degrees, which was 1.2 degrees below the long-term mean, but 3.8 degrees below my mean.

The high was only 50 degrees, which occurred March 13, while the low was -10 on March 7, which was the lowest March temperature since 1996.

The high of only 50 degrees was noteworthy also, as it was the lowest March high we have had since 2001, when the high was only 47 degrees.

Precipitation was 2.58 inches, about .4 inch above my mean but 1.1 inches above the long-term mean. As almost all of this fell as snow, this made for a very snowy March. The total of 25.4 inches was more than double my mean and close to triple the long-term mean. This made it the snowiest March since 1988 when 31 inches of snow fell, and it was our snowiest month, at all, since 28.4 inches fell in December of 2000.

The average high temperature reaches 50 degrees next week, and we should reach that figure again before the weekend as we see a couple of warm, dry days that will melt most of our snow cover.

The active weather pattern should resume this weekend, as we should see the first significant rain of the year. This precipitation could change to snow by Sunday when temperatures cool again, but we should see no more than a little wet accumulation.

Temperatures should return to the 50s next week, and there is a chance of more rain and possibly even the first thunderstorm of the season.

By Jonathan Cohen, Prior Lake observer for the Scott County Soil and Water Conservation District