Meteorological Spring Begins With Winter Blast

Dalhart Weather Review

by Aaron Graves

We "enjoyed" 14 inches of snow during the last part of March 2009, as
seen in the above photo. Another 8 inches fell during the last part of
March 2010. Will we see another late snow storm this year?

It sure is nice to know that Old Man Winter reads this weekly column. He read about our spring-like weather last week, and decided to come to town and see what all the fuss was about. In his wake, he left 1.1" of sleet/snow and cold, cold temperatures. A high of 73 degrees on Feb. 28 gave way to a high of 14 on March 2. The snow and sleet translated into 0.09" of moisture, according to records posted online from the National Weather Service.

Old Man Winter is a bit grumpy it seems, and he has no regard for the beginning of spring. March 1 was actually the first day of "meteorological spring", though it was hard to tell around here.  What is “meteorological spring? To understand that, you need to know what “astronomical spring” is.  

"Astronomical spring", the official beginning of the season, is on March 20, the date of the vernal equinox. This is the day in which we have about the same amount of daylight as we have of darkness because the sun is right over the equator. 

"Astronomical seasons are based on the position of the Earth in relation to the sun, whereas the meteorological seasons are based on the annual temperature cycle," explains an article on NOAA's website. "Variations in season length and season start would make it very difficult to consistently compare climatological statistics for a particular season from one year to the next. Thus, the meteorological seasons were born."

A snowdrift reaches for the top of the fence after the
March blizzard of 2009. 

In other words, we expect more spring-like weather once March begins. So, from a weather-observing standpoint, spring starts March 1 and runs through the end of May. That does not mean, however, that Old Man Winter will go quietly. Far from it. Back in 2009 and 2010, we got hit hard by big snowfalls late in the month. A total of 8.1" inches fell March 24 and 25 in 2010. The year before, we saw 14" on March 26 and 27. 

Since the drought began in 2011, we haven't seen much snow or rain in March. Maybe this year will be different. In fact, Old Man Winter might be back in town as soon as Friday night.  

UPDATED: We have a 40% chance of rain and snow in the forecast for Friday evening and Saturday. An inch or two of accumulation is possible. The high on Saturday will only reach the mid 40s. Expect this blast to be short-lived, as temperatures should get into the low 60s on Sunday. 

February 2014 ended with an average high of 53.4 degrees and an average low of 22.8 degrees. We enjoyed 2.8" of snow, which translated into 0.08" inch of moisture. That is 0.32" of precipitation below our monthly average for February.

High and low temps the past week

Feb 25: 45, 17

Feb 26: 44, 16

Feb 27: 71, 18

Feb 28: 73, 42

Mar 1: 52, 14

Mar 2: 14, 8

Mar 3: 50, 4

Comparing March over the past 5 years: average high, average low, snowfall, precipitation

2013: 64.5, 30.7, 3.3", 0.6"

2012: 71.7, 35.3, 0", .35" 

2011: 67.0, 30.1, 0", 0.01" 

2010: 60.9 31.6, 14.1", 1.22"

2009: 65.5, 30.7, 16", 1.19"

This blog first appeared in "The County Times Two" newsletter. To subscribe, contact Robin Scott at thecountytimestwo@live.com.

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