Above: Indianapolis blanketed in snowfall (Image courtesy Wikicommons/Qsthomson)
March is known for being one of the 'weirdest' weather months of the year, and this year's was certainly no different. Due to the transition from winter to spring, the Midwest can experience a wide range of conditions, from cold and snow to warmth and thunderstorms. Though severe weather was at a minimum for this March, the month did not lack in the other departments, as we saw multiple transitions between cold and warmth and even some snow sprinkled in there at times.
The beginning of March showed no sign of spring's arrival, as cold air and snow was the main feature of the first week of the month. The Great Lakes region was under the influence of a cold air mass and was recovering from a late-season storm that moved through the area February 28th and March 1st. In total, this storm dropped 5.9" in Indianapolis (the city's total accumulation for the month), 1.2" in Cincinnati, 5.0" in Dayton, and 3.8" in Columbus. Though these were the largest accumulations of the time frame, another winter storm provided for more snowfall from the 3rd through the 5th, with a wintry mix of under an inch of snow and a coating of ice in Chicago, then a coating to an inch of snow from Indianapolis into Dayton and Columbus. However, Cincinnati got into the heaviest of it, recording 3.7" as a total.
As mentioned before, the first week of March also had a major cold spell, with average daily temperatures running well below normal, especially on the 5th and 6th, when a blast of arctic air took hold of the region. On these days, average daily temperatures were generally 20-30 degrees below average, with highs struggling to break the teens and 20's and lows in the single digits across the area from Northern Illinois to Ohio.
Above: Radar image of the rain March 13-14th rain storm on March 13th at 4pm (Courtesy of the Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor System nmq.ou.edu)
After bearing through the cold spell, the area was then rewarded with a bit of a warmth throughout the middle of the month, generally from the 9th to 17th. Although temperatures were only modestly above averge through the 13th, they really started climbing between the 13th and 17th, with a culmination on the 16th. On this day, highs from Chicago to Indianapolis and into Ohio rose to the upper 60s to mid 70s. This period was also dry for Chicago, but a rain storm swept through the Ohio Valley on the 13th-14th (radar from storm pictured above). Around an inch of rain fell in Indianapolis, Dayton, and Columbus, while Cincinnati reported 2.07"!
As the month ended, the warmth and rain of mid-March changed to yet another cold spell, with even more snow for the area as winter officially turned to spring. In the time period from the 22nd to 29th, average temperatures ranged from 5 to 20 degrees below normal. These conditions were also accompanied by renewed snowfall threats. A strong clipper crashed into Chicago on the 22-23rd, with 5.8" of snow accumulating at O'Hare. However, the storm weakened as it approached the Ohio Valley, bringing unmeasurable snow to Indianapolis and Cincinnati and 0.7" and 0.9" to Dayton and Columbus respectively. Then, the last snow threat of the month was on the 27th, when some lake-effect snowfall brought 0.6" to Chicago.
Above: Graph comparing 2015 March Precipitation vs Average
Precipitation across the region varied greatly for March and severe weather was pretty non-existant, with the only location of interest that reported thunder being Indianapolis when a line of weak storms moved through. However, the graph below shows the extent of precipitation that fell during the month compared to average. While Indianapolis, Dayton, and Columbus were all close to average, Cincinnati and Chicago were anomalies. Cincinnati received 2.36" above average, which was mainly thanks to them being on the receiving end of several strong systems that moved through their area, while locations just north didn't cash in quite as much. Chicago was quite dry, on the other hand, with only 1.10" of liquid compared to their normal of 2.50" for March. The interesting part of their total is that most of it came from snowfall, with 0.63" of it coming during the clipper on the 22-23rd.
