NATIONAL STORM SUMMARY

MARCH 2020

1-7: A slow-moving storm system crossing the South sparked severe weather, including a deadly tornado outbreak in central Tennessee on March 2-3. The storm also delivered heavy rain, which totaled 2 to 4 inches or more from central Texas into Georgia and
South Carolina. Meanwhile, a disturbance crossing the North contributed to late-week rain and snow showers in the Northeast. The Northern disturbance and the Southern storm merged over the western Atlantic Ocean, helping to draw cold air southward across
the eastern U.S.
On the night of March 2-3, tornadoes struck Tennessee, western Kentucky, and southeastern Missouri. Three of the tornadoes, all in central Tennessee, resulted in fatalities. The first deadly tornado, an EF-2 with winds estimated as high as 125 mph, cut a
19-mile path through Benton and Humphreys Counties from near Camden to just north of Waverly between 11:05 and 11:44 pm CST. There was one fatality. The second deadly tornado—the Nashville storm—resulted in five fatalities and well over 200 injuries
during a 60-mile rampage across Davidson, Wilson, and Smith Counties. The Nashville storm, an EF-3 with winds as high as 165 mph and a width up to 800 yards, was on the ground for an hour from 12:32 to 1:32 am CST, crossing the John C. Tune Airport and
traveling roughly parallel to Interstate 40. Finally, the Cookeville tornado—an EF-4 with winds to 175 mph and a width up to 500 yards—spent just 8 minutes on the ground (and had a path length of just over 8 miles) from 1:49 to 1:57 am CST. However,
the third deadly tornado, which dissipated just before reaching the heart of Cookeville, TN, resulted in 18 fatalities and destroyed more than 30 homes. Elsewhere, daily-record rainfall totals for March 3 included 1.31 inches in Columbus, OH, and 1.26
inches in Crossville, TN. The following day, record-setting rainfall totals for March 4 reached 2.83 inches in Savannah, GA, and 2.40 inches in Tuscaloosa, AL. Heavy rain also fell in a strip across Texas, where daily-record amounts for the 4th included
2.55 inches in Abilene, 2.22 inches in San Angelo, and 1.78 inches in Midland. Farther north, snow in the upper Great Lakes region delivered a daily-record sum (3.6 inches on March 5) in International Falls, MN. As colder air arrived in northern Montana
on March 7, Havre set daily records for precipitation and snow (0.20 and 3.5 inches, respectively). Elsewhere, the Mississippi River at Natchez, MS, crested 7.64 feet above flood stage on March 5—more than 2 feet higher than the late-January level but
2.27 feet below the March 2019 crest.
8-14: An active storm track from the Southwest to the Northeast resulted in widespread precipitation, which was especially heavy in parts of southern California and the Desert Southwest. However, significant rain and snow mostly bypassed northern
California until week’s end, when storminess began to increase. Late-week precipitation also developed in the Northwest, accompanied by a surge of colder air. As a result, significant snow accumulations occurred across northern sections of the Rockies
and High Plains, as well as parts of the interior Northwest. Farther east, periods of heavy rain (locally 2 to 4 inches or more) occurred from the southeastern Plains into the lower Ohio Valley.
The week began with precipitation spreading northeastward from the Southwest. In Arizona, Douglas netted a daily-record rainfall (0.68 inch) for March 8. The following day, record-setting Midwestern precipitation for March 9 included 1.73 inches in
Kansas City, MO, and 1.28 inches in Rockford, IL. By March 10, another round of precipitation arrived in southern California and the Desert Southwest. Daily-record amounts in Arizona for the 10th totaled 1.15 inches in Yuma and 0.95 inch in Prescott. The
last time Yuma received more than an inch of rain in a calendar day was September 9, 2014, when 1.44 inches fell. It was also Yuma’s wettest March day since March 6, 2001, when rainfall totaled 1.42 inches. Yet another wave of precipitation affected
the Southwest on March 12. In fact, Palm Springs, CA, collected daily-record rainfall totals (1.09 and 0.94 inch, respectively) on March 10 and 12. Las Vegas, NV, also notched record-setting amounts on those days, with totals of 0.45 and 0.77 inch,
respectively. In California, daily-record totals for March 12 included 1.69 inches in Burbank; 1.49 inches in Palmdale; 1.23 inches in Long Beach. For Palmdale, it was the fifth-wettest March day on record—and the wettest since March 11, 1995. Thermal,
CA, with 1.66 inches of rain on the 12th, experienced its wettest March day (previously, 1.22 inches on March 2, 1983). From March 10-14, precipitation in Arizona totaled 2.39 inches in Flagstaff and 2.36 inches in Prescott. Farther north, significant
Northwestern precipitation on March 14 led to daily-record amounts in Idaho locations such as Idaho Falls (1.08 inches) and Pocatello (0.59 inch). It was also the wettest March day on record in Idaho Falls (previously, 0.91 inch on March 4, 1991)—and
the wettest calendar day since June 10, 2004, when 1.34 inches fell. Meanwhile, March 11-14 snowfall in Montana totaled 14.2 inches in Great Falls; 10.4 inches in Helena; and 8.2 inches in Havre. In those three locations, the bulk of the snow—8.8, 7.2
and 7.7 inches, respectively—fell on March 14. Elsewhere in Montana on the 14th, Choteau received 13.0 inches of snow. On the other side of the Rockies, Spokane, WA, measured 5.8 inches of snow on March 13-14.
15-21: Storms delivered much-needed precipitation to California’s key watershed areas before soaking an area from the southeastern Plains into the Ohio Valley. Widespread precipitation also fell across the remainder of the West, except from the Pacific
Northwest to the northern Rockies. Weekly rainfall totaled 2 to 4 inches or more from central and eastern Texas into portions of the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys. Significant precipitation was also noted in Iowa and environs, while wind-driven snow
blanketed parts of northeastern Colorado and western Nebraska.
As precipitation ramped up in California, the Sierra Nevada snowpack gained 4 inches of water equivalency (from 10 to 14 inches, or from 36 to 49 percent of normal) during the week, according to the California Department of Water Resources. Heavy
precipitation extended into the Southwest, where daily-record totals included 0.90 inch (on March 19) in Grand Junction, CO; 0.65 inch (on March 18) in Needles, CA; and 0.45 inch (on March 18) in Yuma, AZ. Alturas, CA, netted consecutive daily-record
amounts (0.47 and 0.75 inch, respectively) on March 17-18. Earlier, heavy precipitation had fallen early in the week across the interior Northwest, where Boise, ID, reported a daily-record sum (0.58 inch) for March 15. Farther east, multiple rounds of
heavy rain occurred. The week began on March 15 with a daily-record total (1.55 inches) in Del Rio, TX. It was Del Rio’s wettest day since June 4, 2019, when 4.23 inches fell. Later, heavy rain in Oklahoma resulted in record-setting totals for March 17
in Lawton (1.48 inches) and Oklahoma City. On March 18, Midland, TX, collected a daily-record sum of 1.30 inches. Farther north, March 19 was the most active day of the week, as a storm system traversed the nation’s mid-section. Denver, CO, reported 6.
0 inches of snow on that date, along with a peak northerly wind gust to 49 mph. Daily-record precipitation totals for the 19th reached 2.56 inches in Fayetteville, AR; 1.95 inches in Springfield, MO; and 1.58 inches, along with 3.5 inches of snow, in
Sioux City, IA. Downpours lingered into March 20 across the South and East; Columbus, OH, received 4.66 inches of rain from March 18-20, aided by a daily-record total of 2.89 inches on the final day of the deluge. With a 2.00-inch total, Alexandria, LA,
also logged a daily-record amount on the 20th.
22-28: A late-week storm system delivered widespread Midwestern precipitation, while multiple disturbances maintained showery weather across the interior South. Both regions reported locally severe thunderstorms.
Wind-driven snow briefly blanketed portions of the central High Plains (on March 27), while mostly dry weather in the Red River Valley of the North allowed an orderly snow-melt season to proceed.
Early in the week, locally heavy showers lingered across southern California, where record-setting rainfall totals for March 22 included 1.73 inches in Los Angeles (LAX Airport) and 0.52 inch in Lancaster. Meanwhile, a mix of rain and snow spread from
the Midwest into the Northeast. Daily-record snowfall totals reached 1.8 inches (on March 22) in Springfield, IL, and 6.1 inches (on March 23) in Albany, NY. Bangor, ME, received 7.1 inches of snow on March 23-24. Heavy rain lingered across the northern
mid-Atlantic and southern New England through March 23, when daily-record totals reached 1.44 inches at New York’s LaGuardia Airport and 1.28 inches in Bridgeport, CT. Farther south, locally heavy showers on March 24 led to daily-record totals in
Alabama locations such as Huntsville (2.96 inches) and Muscle Shoals (2.29 inches). By midweek, however, the focus for significant precipitation returned to the West. On March 25-26, Ely, NV, reported precipitation totaling 0.94 inch and 14.1 inches of
snow. At week’s end, showers and thunderstorms again swept eastward. By March 27, Columbia, MO, collected a daily-record sum of 1.44 inches. On the same date, snowfall totaled 2.8 inches in Cheyenne, WY, and 1.0 inch in Denver, CO. The following day,
record-setting precipitation totals for March 28 included 2.00 inches in Rockford, IL; 1.82 inches in Detroit, MI; 1.40 inches in Saint Cloud, MN; and 1.39 inches in Broken Bow, NE. According to preliminary reports, as many as two dozen tornadoes were
spotted on March 28 across the mid-South and Midwest, extending as far north as Iowa, northern Illinois, and southwestern Wisconsin. Elsewhere, March 1-28 rainfall totals in Florida included zero in Lakeland and a trace in Leesburg, Tampa, and Sarasota-
Bradenton.

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