March

 

1          2007:  On this date in 2007, a total of 31 tornadoes struck Georgia and southern Alabama, including 13 strong or violent tornadoes (EF2 or greater).  The deadliest was an EF4 that struck a high school in Enterprise, AL, killing 8 students when a concrete wall collapsed on them.  Source:  the NWS Aware winter 2007 publication in Jan. 2008

1962:  ALO’s all-time record low of –34 F set on this date.   Though not all-time record lows, several other locations set record lows for the month of March that day, including MCW with -28 F, DSM with –22 F, and DBQ and CID with –20 F.

            ...1962...A record March cold wave occurred in the upper Midwest, with Couderay, WI dropping to 48 degrees below zero and places in Iowa bottoming out at 35 degrees below zero. (Intellicast)

 

1-2      2007:  Second winter storm in the past week hit Iowa.  Snowfall and winds led to blizzard conditions in western IA.  Many roads were closed.  Greatest snowfall (preliminary) at 6 am on the 2nd was 17” in Carroll of west central IA (other preliminary amounts at the same time: DBQ 0.8”, DVN 1.8”, DSM 4.9”, MCW 8.2:, SUX 9.8”, SPW 12.0”, Guthrie Center (west central) 12.0”, and Pocahontas (NW) 14.0”.  Started out as rain in eastern IA but turning to snow by about 3 in the afternoon.  Winds increased during the evening of the 1st and things got nastier as snow accumulated on the roads.  On the 2nd, still some light snowfall in areas, but mostly blowing snow.  Many schools closed on the 2nd after letting out early on the 1st; roads still closed (including I35 from about Ames up to the MN border and I80 from DSM west to NE).  The following is from a NWS posting in Oct. 2007:  “Within a week of the February 24-26 ice and snow storm, a major blizzard occurred over western Iowa. Heavy snow and very strong northwest winds combined to produce widespread blizzard conditions. The combination of heavy falling snow, a deep snowpack from the storm a week before and very strong winds resulted in almost all rural roads over western Iowa becoming impassible in a short amount of time. Hundreds of people became stranded and the National Guard was called out to perform rescue missions.  A large area of northwest Iowa received over 10 inches of snow with the heaviest totals at 17 inches in Estherville and Carroll. Drifts of 5 to 10 feet were common with 16 foot drifts reported in Carroll. The blizzard was considered the worst blizzard in decades over western Iowa. In Carroll for example, the blizzard was the worst since the blizzard of 1947.” 

 

4-6      1959:  Between March 4th and 6th of 1959, a snowstorm struck all of Iowa, killing 19 people.  The heaviest snowfall of 12 to 20 inches fell in a 100 mile wide band from south central into northeast IA.  Travel by car was nearly impossible in many places.  In DSM, 20,000 cars were abandoned by their owners.  Snow drifts were as high as 15 to 20 feet in northeast IA.  From Storm Data.

 

5-8      2000:  Record warmth in Iowa:  temperatures averaged more than 20 degrees above normal from the 5th through the 8th.  ALO set new record highs on 3 consecutive days (70 on the 5th, 72 on the 6th [tied in 2005], and 79 on the 7th) and tied the record high of 75 on the 8th.  DSM also set records of 73 on the 6th and 79 on the 7th.  Elsewhere, Mason City and Spencer set daily high temperature records on 5 consecutive days (4th through the 8th).  BRL, CID, DBQ, and MLI also saw record highs during this period.  The highest reading in that warm spell was 81 degrees in Mount Pleasant on the afternoon of the 7th.

 

7          ...1990...A major ice storm left much of Iowa under a thick coat of ice. It was the worst ice storm in at least twenty-five years for Iowa, perhaps the worst of the century. Up to two inches of ice coated much of western and central Iowa, with three inches reported in Crawford County and Carroll County. As much as five inches of ice was reported on some electrical lines. The ice downed 78 towers in a 17-mile stretch of a high voltage feeder near Boone costing three electric utilities fifteen million dollars. Damage to trees was incredible, and clean-up costs alone ran into the millions. Total damage from the storm was more than fifty million dollars. (Storm Data)

 

8          ...1990...Late afternoon thunderstorms produced severe weather in east central Iowa and west central Illinois. Thunderstorms spawned a tornado south of Augusta, IL that traveled 42 miles to Marbleton. Golf ball size hail was reported at Peoria, IL and near Vermont, IL. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

 

11        ...1962...One of the most paralyzing snowstorms in decades produced record March snowfalls in Iowa. Four feet of snow covered the ground at Inwood (this is in far northwest IA) following the storm. (David Ludlum)  More info I found in Storm Data:  These are the complete entries for the storm in the March 1962 issue of "Storm Data", an official publication of the National Climatic Data Center:

"March 10-14, 1962:  Snowstorm in North and West Iowa
Began as rain, changed to snow p.m. of 10th.  Moderate to heavy 11-12 (must be inches of snow) with N to NWly winds 20-30 mph., gusting to 40., which drifted highways, closed schools and isolated communities, particularly in NW Iowa where previous heavy accumulations accentuated severity of this storm.

March 10-11, 1962:  Heavy snow and wind in Minnesota
Heavy snow ranged in depth from 4 to 13 inches blown about by 20 to 40 mph winds.  Hardest hit was the southern tier of counties from Albert Lea west and the Duluth area.  Blowing snow blocked roads with some secondary roads not opened until the 17th.  Some drifts 16 feet high in southwest.  Over 350 schools closed as school buses not able to operate.  Three men died due to over exertion shoveling snow.  Numerous unshoveled roofs collapsed with the added weight of this storm.  Urban snow removal very costly, as much as $15,000 an inch in larger urban areas.

March 11-13, 1962:  Near Blizzard in South Dakota
Fourth consecutive weekend storm of snow, strong wind, blowing and drifting snow, blocked roads, and isolated travelers.  Storm most severe eastern half of state.  State highway worker slipped on icy, snow-blocked highway east edge of Aberdeen (12th) while halting traffic; he died from injury."

12        ...1954...A blizzard raged from eastern Wyoming into the Black Hills of western South Dakota, while a severe ice storm was in progress from northeastern Nebraska to central Iowa. The ice storm isolated 153 towns in Iowa. Dust from the Great Plains caused brown snow, and hail and muddy rain over parts of Wisconsin and Michigan. (11th-13th) (The Weather Channel) 

...1993...What was to become the "Great Blizzard of '93" began to develop as a huge mesoscale convective complex formed in the western Gulf of Mexico. As the low-pressure area moved eastward and intensified, howling north winds exceeding hurricane force behind the storm were reported by platforms in the Gulf. One platform near 28.5 North latitude 92.5 West longitude recorded sustained winds of 85 mph with gusts to 99 mph. As the low crossed the coast around midnight near Panama City, FL, the central pressure was already down to 980 millibars (28.94 inches). During the late evening into the early morning hours of the 13th, a vicious squall line swept through Florida and spawned 11 tornadoes resulting in 5 fatalities. Thunderstorm winds gusted to 110 mph at Alligator Point and 109 mph at Dry Tortugas. Extremely high tides occurred along the western Florida coast. A 13-foot storm surge occurred in Taylor County, FL, resulting in 10 deaths with 57 residences destroyed. A 5 to 8-foot storm surge moved ashore in Dixie County. Over 500 homes were destroyed with major damage to another 700 structures.

13        ...1951...The state of Iowa experienced a record snowstorm. The storm buried Iowa City under 27 inches of snow. (David Ludlum)

...1990...Thunderstorms produced severe weather from northwest Texas to Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska during the day, and into the night. Severe thunderstorms spawned 59 tornadoes, including twenty-six strong or violent tornadoes, and there were about two hundred reports of large hail or damaging winds. There were forty-eight tornadoes in Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa, and some of the tornadoes in those three states were the strongest of record for so early in the season, and for so far northwest in the United States. The most powerful tornado of the day was one that tore through the central Kansas community of Hesston. One tornado, rated F5 on the Fujita Scale, went through Hesston, killing one person and causing 20 million dollars in damage. Another tornado formed close to the Hesston tornado while it was weakening and absorbed it. This new tornado was also a F5 and killed one person in Gossel, KS. These tornadoes had a 67-mile path, with a life span of two hours. A family of tornadoes up to F4 in intensity tracked 124 miles across southeastern Nebraska injuring eight persons and causing more than five million dollars damage during its three-hour life span. In York County, 12 farms were hit and 10,000 geese were killed. (Storm Data)

...1993...The "Great Blizzard of '93" clobbered the eastern US on this day and produced perhaps the largest swath of heavy snow ever recorded. Heavy snow was driven to the Gulf Coast with 3 inches falling at Mobile, AL and up to 5 inches reported in the Florida Panhandle, the greatest single snowfall in that state's history. Thirteen inches blanketed Birmingham, AL to set not only a new 24-hour snowfall record for any month, but also set a record for maximum snow depth, maximum snow for a single storm, and maximum snow for a single month. Tremendous snowfall amounts occurred in the Appalachians. Mount Leconte in Tennessee recorded an incredible 60 inches. Mount Mitchell in North Carolina was not far behind with 50 inches. Practically every official weather station in West Virginia set a new 24-hour record snowfall. Farther to the north, Pittsburgh, PA measured 25 inches, Albany, NY checked in with 27 inches, and Syracuse, NY was buried under 43 inches. The major population corridor from Washington, DC to Boston, MA was not spared this time as all the big cities got about a foot of snow before a changeover to rain. A rather large amount of thunderstorm activity accompanied the heavy snow. Winds to hurricane force in gusts were widespread. Boston recorded a gust to 81 mph, the highest wind gust at the location since Hurricane Edna in 1954. Numerous cities in the south and mid Atlantic states recorded their lowest barometric pressure ever as the storm bottomed out at 960 millibars (28.35 inches) over Chesapeake Bay. As many as 208 people were killed by the storm and total damage was estimated at 6 billion dollars -- the costliest extratropical storm in history. (Intellicast)

 

13-15  1952...The world's 5-day rainfall record was set when a tropical cyclone produced 151.73 inches of rain at Cilos, Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. The 73.62 inches that fell in a 24-hour period (15th-16th) set the world's 24-hour rainfall record. (Accord's Weather Calendar) Try to get more info on this before using.

 

14        ...1870...The term "blizzard" was first applied to a storm that produced heavy snow and high winds in Minnesota and Iowa. This "new" word appeared in the "Estherville (Iowa) Vindicator". (David Ludlum)

...1993...Record cold followed in the wake of the "blizzard of '93" over the eastern US with 57 daily record low temperatures broken. Birmingham, AL plunged to 2 degrees, by far breaking its previous march record low of 11 degrees. Orlando, FL recorded 33 degrees to smash its old daily record low by 9 degrees. It was also the coldest temperature ever recorded for so late in the season. (Intellicast)

 

14-15  1959:   On March 14th and 15th of 1959, the second powerful snowstorm of the month struck IA.  The heaviest snow fell from the SW corner of IA all the way to the NW corner of the state.  Twelve inches of snow fell in Chickasaw and Howard counties of NE IA.  Strong winds produced snow drifts that were 10 to 15 feet deep.  Travel was nearly impossible in the heavy snow.  In DSM, 5000 fans attending the state girls’ basketball tournament were stranded at Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium.  Six people died in the storm.  From Storm Data.

15        2004:  A spring snowstorm produced big snows across IA.  SUX received 18.4” (record for the date), the second largest snowfall ever within a 24-hr period (record is 20” on April 10, 1913).  DSM received 15.6” (record for date and month, and 3rd heaviest 24-hr snowfall ever recorded [coming in behind 19.8” on 1 January 1942 and 17” on 26 December 1888]), DVN had 4.2”, CID 3.0”, ALO and DBQ had 1.5”, and only 0.8” fell in MCW.  One person died in a weather-related accident on Hwy 218 just west of Waverly.

 

15-16  1952:  According to the Guinness Book of World Records (1979 Edition), the world’s 24-hour rainfall record was set between the 15th and 16th of March 1952 when 73.62 inches of rain was measured at Cilos, Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean.  The tropical cyclone also set the world's 5-day rainfall record: 151.73 inches of rain at the same location. (Accord's Weather Calendar is reference for latter part)

 

18        1925:  The Tristate Tornado in MO/IL/IN.  Killed an estimated 695 people.  Most of the deaths occurred in IL, including the largest death toll within a single city in U.S. history:  234 in Murphysboro.  The tornado produced a continuous damage path that extended for 219 miles.  More info on this one is in the Guide to Tornado Video Classics on p. 10.  See what I did on March 22, 2005.  See also “The Tri-State Tornado” by Peter S. Felknor in the library.

 

19-21  2006:  Iowa’s largest snow event affected the SW two-thirds of the state, with 13.0 inches at Holly Springs in western Iowa’s Woodbury county.

 

23        World Meteorological Day:   This day is designated to celebrate the anniversary of the establishment of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on 23 March 1950. The WMO is an agency within the United Nations.

 

            1975:  At 3 pm, a 14-year-old boy was killing in Bettendorf (IA) while reeling in a kite with a nylon string attached to a fiberglass fishing rod.  Two companions were knocked to the ground, but otherwise were unhurt.  [paraphrased from the NOAA reprint ‘Lightning: The underrated killer’, Vol. 6, No. 2, April 1976; was in collection of things from Charlie Francisco]

 

25        ...1948...For the second time in less than a week airplanes were destroyed by a tornado at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City, OK. A tornado on 20 March destroyed fifty planes at Tinker AFB causing more than ten million dollars damage and the tornado on 25 March destroyed another thirty-five planes causing six million dollars damage. The first tornado struck without warning, and caused more damage than any previous tornado in the state of Oklahoma. The second tornado was predicted by Fawbush and Miller of the United States Air Force, and their accurate tornado forecast ushered in the modern era of severe weather forecasting. (The Weather Channel) (Storm Data) (The National Severe Storms Forecast Center)

 

25-27  1983:  In 1983, an intense low pressure system produced heavy snow in the Midwest from Friday evening (March 25th) through Palm Sunday (March 27th) morning. Snow depths were highly variable due to the fact that convective activity caused many locally heavy amounts. The snow combined with strong winds, severely reduced visibilities and produced terrible driving conditions. In western and northern Iowa, the main storm damage of the storm was to trees and power lines. The wet accumulation downed many branches and tree limbs as well as power lines, damaging houses and resulting in electrical power loss to tens of thousands of homes and businesses. Most power outages only lasted a few hours, but some homes in rural areas were without electricity up to 2 days. WHO TV in Des Moines was off for two hours due to transmitter trouble and several radio stations were off the air due to the storm. Three buildings, one in Creston, one in Collins, and one in Lake View collapsed due to the weight of snow on the roof. Locally, both Austin, MN (Mower County) and Marble Rock, IA (Floyd County) received 6 inches of snow, and 6 to 8 inches of snow fell across extreme southern Grant and Lafayette counties.  From LSE NWS.

 

26        1959:  On this date, the third significant storm of the month hit IA, producing snow in NW and extreme northern IA and ice up to one and a half inches thick from Spencer to the Mason City area.  One person died and damage to telephone lines was extensive.  From Storm Data.

 

28        ...1987...A blizzard raged from southern Nebraska to central Iowa. Snowfall totals ranged up to 17 inches at Blue Hill, NE. Winds gusted to 68 mph at Carroll, IA. High winds produced snow drifts twenty feet high in western Iowa, and produced wind chill readings as cold as 30 degrees below zero in Nebraska. The snowfall total of 9.4 inches at Omaha, NE was a record for the date. Twelve to eighteen inches of snow were common across northwestern Kansas. Winds gusting up to 70 mph whipped drifts 20 to 30 feet high in some places. The storm took a great toll on cattle as well (Storm Data) (The National Weather Summary) (Intellicast)

 

30-31  1985:  In 1985, a late-season snowstorm left a band of wet, heavy snow from eastern Nebraska to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on March 30th and March 31st (Palm Sunday). Some of the heaviest snowfall, up to 16 inches, was reported in the urban areas of Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN.  In Iowa, the heaviest accumulation (about 10") occurred in west central Iowa and more than six inches fell from Hawarden to Glenwood, northeast to Estherville and Waukon. Travel became treacherous. The following snow totals were reported in northeast Iowa: Decorah (7.5"), Cresco (6"), Dorchester (6"), New Hampton (6"), and Osage (6").  From NWS LSE.  Used a version in 2007.

 

31        2007:  An EF-1 tornado (maximum estimated wind speeds of 108 mph) touched down between 5:30 and 5:45 PM in Delaware and Clayton counties in northeast Iowa.   No people were injured but (at least) 20 dairy cows died when a barn collapsed.  Damage path was 200 yards in width at the widest point and there was an intermittent damage path 10 miles long.  From NWS LSE.

 

 

 

Insert this sometime:

On Saturday morning (20 March 2004) we will mark the passage of the vernal equinox (at 0649 Z or 1:49 AM EST, 12:49 AM CST, and so forth), an event that is popularly known as the beginning of the astronomical spring season in the Northern Hemisphere. Residents of the Northern Hemisphere will note that the length of daylight rapidly increases toward a maximum on the summer solstice on Sunday, 20 June 2004.

At the instant of vernal equinox passage, the sun will appear to be directly over the earth's equator. If you were on the equator, Tuesday would be one of two days during the year when the sun would be directly over your head at local noon. At essentially every place on earth (except for the poles) the sun would rise directly to the east of you, and set directly to the west - provided that clouds do not interfere.

As the name suggests, (equinox is derived from the Latin word "aequinoctium" meaning equality between day and night) this event will mark one of the two times during the year when essentially all places on earth experience equal intervals of daylight and equal night during a 24-hour period. In reality, the date when an even 12 hours of daylight has passed. The exact date depends upon your latitude. If you check the local sunrise and sunset times for Thursday in your local newspaper or an almanac, you will note that the length of daylight exceeds 12 hours by several minutes. As described in a previous Supplement, this extended time is the result of the effect of the atmosphere bending the sun's rays combined with the fact that the sun is not a point, but a disc whose diameter is sufficiently large to make a noticeable difference. In the tropics, the day when the elapsed time between local sunrise and sunset is precisely 12 hours falls in late February, while at 40 degrees, the date is 17 March.

The precise prediction of the calendar date when the spring equinox occurs has much historical and religious significance, especially in Christianity, because the determination of when Easter is to be observed depends upon the date of the equinox. The U.S. Naval Observatory has prepared tables of the times of the start of the seasons (equinoxes, solstices) and other astronomical events through the year 2020. Based upon these tabulations, the equinox generally occurs almost 6 hours later each year than it did on the previous year. The reason for this annual shift results because the earth makes one circuit of the sun in 365.2422 days. The insertion of an extra "leap year" day at the end of this February (and every fourth year, such as in 1996 and 2008) essentially corrects for this drift, causing the time of vernal equinox to be 18 hours earlier than in 2003. As discussed in an earlier Supplemental Information file, the Gregorian Calendar reform to adjust the problem with the early occurrence of the equinox, provides a better correction scheme than did the Julian Calendar, by requiring that only those century years as 1600 and 2000 be considered leap years, while the others (1700, 1800 and 1900) are "normal" years.

For those interested in viewing a plot of the dates of vernal equinox over several centuries and learning about the long-term effects of the precession of the equinoxes, check http://www.astro.virginia.edu/~eww6n/astro/VernalEquinox.html.

 

 

From DataStreme Daily Summary based on conditions Sunday night, March 14, 2004:

 

One of the low-pressure centers over Colorado is expected to move eastward across the central Plains on Monday. By evening the low pressure center is forecast to be located over southwestern Missouri. A large area of snow should accompany this system, spreading eastward across the Plains to the north of the storm track. Winter weather advisories were posted for eastern Nebraska, southeastern South Dakota and western Iowa, while a winter storm watch was in effect across central Iowa. Between 3 to 5 inches of snow were expected across portions of the Hawkeye State by late Monday afternoon.

 

Monday, March 15, 2004:  (from DataStreme Daily Summary based on conditions Monday night)

HEAVY SNOW ACROSS THE MIDWEST -- A storm system that developed on the eastern slopes of the Rockies in Colorado late Sunday moved eastward across the Plains, bringing a band of heavy snow across portions of the Midwest. By late evening, between 10 to 18 inches of snow had fallen in a narrow band from southeastern South Dakota to central Iowa. Daily snowfall records were set in Iowa at Sioux City (18.4 inches) and at Des Moines (15.4 inches). The liquid-equivalent precipitation at Sioux City also set a daily precipitation record of 1.66 inches, while the snow at Des Moines was also a monthly snowfall record and represented the third snowiest day in the 115 year period of record for the capital city.

 

March 18:       ...1925...The great "Tri-State Tornado" occurred, the most deadly tornado in U.S. history. The tornado claimed 695 lives (including 234 at Murphysboro, IL and 148 at West Frankfort, IL), and caused $17 million property damage. It cut a swath of destruction 219 miles long and as much as a mile wide from east central Missouri to southern Indiana between 1 PM and 4 PM. The tornado leveled a school in West Frankfort, IL, and picked up sixteen students setting them down unharmed 150 yards away. Seven other tornadoes claimed an additional 97 lives that day. At one point, the tornado was moving at a record setting 73 mph. This tornado was easily an F5 on the Fujita scale with winds exceeding 260 mph. Instead of occurring along a cold front or in a squall line, the tornado was closely associated with a surface low-pressure area. In all respects, it was a remarkable tornado and stands alone in its own class of tornadic events.(David Ludlum) (Intellicast)