March 2012 Climate Summary

THIS IS THE MARCH MONTHLY CLIMATE SUMMARY

MARCH 2012 HAS GONE DOWN AS THE WARMEST MARCH EVER ACROSS THE MIDSOUTH. THE LACK OF STRONG COLD FRONTS MOVING THROUGH THE REGION AND A STRONG RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF THE UNITED STATES WERE THE MAIN CONTRIBUTING FACTORS. LISTED BELOW ARE THE CLIMATE FACTS THAT TELL THE STORY:

MEMPHIS JACKSON JONESBORO TUPELO

YEAR DATA BEGINS: 1875 1949 1895 1930

DAYS BELOW NORMAL: 3 2 1 4

DAYS ABOVE NORMAL: 27 26 28 25

DAYS 10°F+ ABOVE NORMAL: 18 17 20 19

DAILY RECORDS BROKEN: 3 6 2 2

DAILY TEMP RECORDS TIED: 3 0 1 3

THE FOLLOWING TABLES SHOW THE RANK, AVERAGE TEMPERATURE (°F), YEAR OF OCCURRENCE, AND ITS DEPARTURE FROM THE 1981-2010 SET OF NORMALS.

TOP 10 WARMEST MARCH MONTHS ON RECORD:

MEMPHIS				JACKSON				JONESBORO				TUPELO
#	AVG	YR	DEP	#	AVG	YR	DEP	#	AVG	YR	DEP	#	AVG	YR	DEP
1	64.8	2012	10.8	1	61.7	2012	10.7	1	62.4	2012	12.4	1	63.8	2012	9.8
2	62.5	2007	8.5	2	58.8	2007	7.8	2	61.5	1921	11.3	2	61.9	1945	7.9
3	62.1	1907	8.1	3	57.4	1973	6.4	3	60.8	1907	10.6	3	61.8	2007	7.8
4	61.9	1910	7.9	4	57.1	1974	6.1	4	59.5	1938	9.3		61.8	1938	7.8
5	61.4	1921	7.4	5	57.0	1967	6.0	5	58.9	1945	8.7	5	61.2	1935	7.2
6	60.5	1938	6.5	6	56.7	1977	5.7		58.9	1908	8.7	6	59.6	1974	5.6
7	60.1	1945	6.1		56.7	1976	5.7	7	58.8	1918	8.6		59.6	1946	5.6
8	59.6	1908	5.6	8	55.6	1963	4.6	8	58.4	1946	8.2	8	58.0	1976	4.0
9	59.5	1878	5.5	9	55.5	1985	4.5		58.4	2007	8.2	9	57.8	1997	3.8
10	59.4	1946	5.4	10	55.0	1995	4.0	10	57.4	1967	7.2	10	57.6	1973	3.6

TOP 10 WARMEST YEARS THROUGH MARCH 31:

MEMPHIS				JACKSON				JONESBORO				TUPELO
#	AVG	YR	DEP	#	AVG	YR	DEP	#	AVG	YR	DEP	#	AVG	YR	DEP
1	54.0	2012	6.8	1	50.8	2012	7.0	1	51.8	1921	8.7	1	53.8	2012	6.6
2	52.7	1907	5.5	2	50.0	1990	6.2	2	50.9	2012	7.8	2	53.3	1938	6.1
3	52.2	1921	5.0	3	48.2	1974	4.4	3	50.0	1938	6.9	3	52.3	1990	5.1
4	51.9	1990	4.7		48.2	1953	4.4	4	49.2	1911	6.1	4	51.6	1974	4.4
5	51.8	1880	4.6	5	48.1	1976	4.3	5	48.9	1990	5.8	5	51.5	1949	4.3
6	51.4	1882	4.2	6	47.3	1952	3.5	6	48.6	1932	5.5	6	51.2	1939	4.0
7	50.6	1976	3.4		47.3	1950	3.5	7	48.5	1946	5.4	7	51.1	1935	3.9
8	50.5	1911	3.3	8	47.2	1949	3.4	8	48.0	1925	4.9	8	50.8	1953	3.6
9	50.4	1890	3.2	9	46.8	1992	3.0		48.0	1953	4.9	9	50.5	1945	3.3
10	50.1	1974	2.9	10	46.6	1998	2.8	10	47.8	1927	4.7	10	50.4	1952	3.2

PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH WAS NEAR AVERAGE FOR MOST SITES. THE ONLY SITE THAT WAS WELL ABOVE NORMAL WAS TUPELO. THIS WAS A RESULT OF THE HEAVY RAINS FROM MARCH 30TH SEEN OVER THE TUPELO AREA. NONE OF THE SITES BROKE INTO THE TOP 10 WETTEST OR DRIEST MONTHS. HERE IS THE DATA FOR EACH SITE:

MEMPHIS JACKSON JONESBORO TUPELO

TOTAL PRECIPITATION: 4.35 4.18 4.90 7.71

DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL: -0.81 -0.57 +0.90 +2.89

SIGNIFICANT WEATHER EVENTS:

THE ABNORMALLY WARM TEMPERATURES HAVE BEEN THE MAIN STORY FOR THIS MONTH ACROSS THE MIDSOUTH. HOWEVER, THERE HAVE BEEN A FEW SEVERE WEATHER AND FLOODING EVENTS OF NOTE. THE FIRST SEVERE WEATHER EVENT WAS ON MARCH 2ND. SEVERAL REPORTS OF WIND DAMAGE AND LARGE HAIL WERE RECEIVED ACROSS WESTERN TENNESSEE AND NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI. SOME SIGNIFICANT HAIL WAS REPORTED…WITH A COUPLE OF REPORTS OF 3 INCH IN DIAMETER HAIL IN HOULKA, MS AND STANTONVILLE, TN. SEVERAL OTHER REPORTS OF PING PONG BALL SIZE HAIL OR LARGER WERE ALSO RECEIVED. ON MARCH 8TH, STORMS PRODUCED A SWATH OF WIND DAMAGE ACROSS NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI IN TALLAHATCHIE, LAFAYETTE, YALOBUSHA, CALHOUN, CHICKASAW, MONROE AND ITAWAMBA COUNTIES. DAMAGE TO STRUCTURES AND REPORTS OF TREES DOWN WERE COMMON ACROSS THESE COUNTIES. SOME STORMS ALSO DEVELOPED ON THE 15TH AND 16TH THAT PRODUCED QUARTER TO HALF DOLLAR SIZE HAIL. MARCH FINISHED WITH A FINAL ROUND OF SEVERE WEATHER AND FLASH FLOODING ON THE 31ST. 25 REPORTS OF SEVERE HAIL WAS REPORTED, WITH 10 REPORTS OF GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL. SIGNIFICANT FLASH FLOODING WAS REPORTED IN CORINTH, GUNTOWN, SALTILLO, AND JUST WEST OF BALDWYN AS NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS MOVED OVER THE SAME AREAS FOR 4 TO 5 HOURS.

CLIMATE OUTLOOK:

WARM. THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER (CPC) HAS FORECAST WARMER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE MONTH OF APRIL IN THE ONE MONTH TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK. THE CPC HAS ALSO FORECAST WARMER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES FOR THE MIDSOUTH IN THE 3 MONTH TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK FOR APRIL, MAY AND JUNE. THE PRECIPITATION IS FORECAST AS HAVING EQUAL CHANCES OF ABOVE OR BELOW NORMAL AMOUNTS OVER THE NEXT 3 MONTHS. THE MIDSOUTH IS NOT IN A DROUGHT CURRENTLY…AND ONE IS NOT FORECAST TO DEVELOP AT THIS TIME.

RRH