NATIONAL STORM SUMMARY

MARCH 2022

1-5: Early-week precipitation was heavy in the Pacific Northwest. In western Washington, runoff from heavy rain and melting snow led to another round of mostly minor to moderate flooding.

A late-week storm resulted in heavy showers and locally severe thunderstorms in the Midwest, as well as snow in the northern and central Rockies and adjacent Plains. However, many drought-affected areas of the South, including southern sections of the
Rockies and Plains, remained dry.

Quillayute, WA, collected a daily-record sum of 2.88 inches. The last day of February featured daily-record amounts in numerous Northwestern locations, including Olympia, WA (3.12 inches), and Astoria, OR (2.98 inches). In contrast, Medford, OR,
completed its driest February on record, with 0.08 inch (4 percent of normal). Medford’s previous February record had been 0.10 inch, set in 1913. In downtown San Francisco, CA, the January-February rainfall of 0.65 inch (7 percent of normal) eclipsed
the record of 0.72 inch established during the first 2 months of 1852. Other California locations setting records for January-February dryness included San Jose (0.01 inch), Fresno (0.04 inch), Sacramento (0.05 inch), Los Angeles International Airport (0.
13 inch), Santa Maria (0.24 inch), and Eureka (2.39 inches). Late in the week, lingering Western precipitation resulted in daily-record totals for March 4 in Bakersfield, CA (0.68 inch), and Sheridan, WY (0.35 inch). A day later, recordsetting snowfall
amounts for March 5 included 7.4 inches in Winnemucca, NV, and 6.1 inches in Casper, WY. On March 5, severe thunderstorms erupted across Iowa, where several tornado-related fatalities occurred. Tornadoes were also confirmed in Wisconsin, Indiana, and
Ohio. A tornado was spotted in the distance from the airport in Des Moines, IA, where rainfall totaled 1.35 inches and a wind gust to 53 mph was clocked. A March 5 wind gust to 81 mph, unrelated to tornado activity, was reported in Rockford, IL. Record-
setting rainfall amounts for March 5 reached 1.79 inches in Green Bay, WI, and 1.26 inches in Waterloo, IA.

6-12: Weekly rainfall totals exceeding 4 inches were common across northern Florida. Meanwhile, snow blanketed several areas, including the Western mountains (excluding a swath from California to the southern Rockies), portions of the central Plains and
Midwest, and an area extending from the mid-South and the Tennessee Valley into the Northeast. In contrast, little or no precipitation fell during the week across the drought-stricken southern High Plains, as well as the northern Plains and upper Midwest.
Early in the week, a disturbance crossing the mid-South and Midwest produced widespread precipitation. In Missouri, daily-record rainfall totals for March 6 included 1.74 inches in Cape Girardeau and 1.65 inches in St. Louis. The following day, record-
setting snowfall for March 7 reached 5.3 inches in Houghton Lake, MI, and 4.0 inches in Waterloo, IA. Dayton, OH, netted a daily-record rainfall amount (2.48 inches) for March 7. By March 8, a developing storm system helped to focus a new area of heavy
rain across the South, resulting in daily-record amounts in locations such as Jackson, MS (4.27 inches), Huntsville, AL (1.63 inches), and Jacksonville, FL (1.60 inches). Jacksonville received measurable rain each day from March 8-12, totaling 5.06
inches, followed by a daily-record low of 30°F on March 13. Around mid-week, separate areas of snow were noted across the West and Northeast. In the latter region, daily-record snowfall amounts for March 9 totaled 8.0 inches in Binghamton, NY, and 4.1
inches in Hartford, CT. Meanwhile, Alta, UT, received 20.0 inches of snow in a 24-hour period on March 8-9. Snow also spread across the central Plains, where daily-record totals included 3.1 inches (on March 9) in North Platte, NE, and 4.4 inches (on
March 10) in Topeka, KS. Late in the week, another round of heavy rain in Florida resulted in a dailyrecord sum (2.40 inches on March 10) in Miami. Elsewhere in Florida, record-setting rainfall amounts for March 11 reached 4.21 inches in Apalachicola and
3.90 inches in Gainesville. The 5-day (March 8-12) sum in Apalachicola climbed to 8.19 inches, while Gainesville received 7.05 inches. Florida’s rainfall assisted with containment efforts for several wildfires, including the 33,131-acre Bertha Swamp
Road Fire, east of Panama City. At week’s end, a late-season snowstorm unfolded across the East, extending into northern sections of Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. Record-setting snowfall totals for March 11 included 4.7 inches in Bowling Green, KY;
3.3 inches in Little Rock, AR; 2.0 inches in Memphis, TN; and 1.1 inches in Tupelo, MS. For Tupelo, it was the greatest March snowfall since March 7-8, 2008, when 2.5 inches fell. Impressive Northeastern snowfall totals on March 12 reached 10.6 inches
in Binghamton, NY, and 8.0 inches in Pittsburgh, PA. Through the 12th, Binghamton’s month-to-date snowfall stood at 20.3 inches. In West Virginia, record-setting snowfall totals for the 12th were set in locations such as Elkins (9.1 inches), Charleston
(7.8 inches), and Beckley (5.3 inches).

13-19: As the week progressed, a pair of storms delivered widespread precipitation, benefiting some drought-stressed rangelands.
The leading system traversed the Southeast around the middle of the week, while the trailing storm produced showers and thunderstorms across the South and a separate area of precipitation from the central Plains into the Midwest. Meanwhile, some rain and
snow fell in the western U.S., although significant amounts were generally limited to the central Rockies and the Northwest.
Early-week precipitation was heaviest across the Pacific Northwest, where Quillayute, WA, netted a daily-record rainfall (2.09 inches) for March 14. Quillayute reported measurable rain each day from March 11-20, totaling 7.23 inches. In contrast,
negligible precipitation has fallen in 2022 from California to the southern Plains. Through March 20, year-to-date precipitation in California totaled 0.73 inch (7 percent of normal) at San Francisco Airport; 0.32 inch (4 percent) in Sacramento; 0.24
inch (4 percent) in Fresno; 0.15 inch (2 percent) in Stockton; 0.11 inch (2 percent) in San Jose; and 0.08 inch (1 percent) in Modesto. In northern Texas, Dalhart reported a January 1 – March 20 precipitation total of 0.07 inch (5 percent of normal).
As a pair of storms affected the South, Tuscaloosa, AL, received a March 15-18 rainfall total of 1.99 inches—aided by a daily-record sum (1.45 inches) on the 18th. Waterloo, IA, also netted a daily-record sum (1.10 inches) on March 18. At week’s end,
precipitation gradually ended along the East Coast. However, lingering storminess on March 19 resulted in a daily-record rainfall (2.60 inches) on Saint Simons Island, GA, and 4.0 inches of snow (not a record for the date) in Caribou, ME. Caribou’s
snow depth peaked for the winter at 23 inches on February 9 and March 13. 20-26: A potent spring storm swept from the central and southern Plains into the Great Lakes States, delivering widespread precipitation along and east of its path. Snow fell along the northwestern edge of the precipitation shield, stretching from
central and southern sections of the Rockies and Plains into the upper Great Lakes region. Snow also blanketed northern New England. Meanwhile, heavy showers and locally severe thunderstorms swept across the South, resulting in at least 2 to 4 inches of
rain in numerous locations. A Southern severe-weather outbreak peaked on March 21-22, with dozens of tornadoes reported from Texas to Alabama.
The Western warmth began to prematurely melt high-elevation snowpack. According to the California Department of Water Resources, the average water equivalency of the Sierra Nevada snowpack fell below 11 inches by March 27, down from a seasonal peak of 16
inches (as recently as the first half of March). Farther north, heavy precipitation lingered early in the week in western Washington, where Quillayute netted a daily-record rainfall of 1.90 inches on March 20. Meanwhile, windy weather developed across
parts of the West as storminess began to shift eastward. A wind gust to 63 mph was clocked on March 20 in Las Vegas, NV. On March 21, heavy precipitation developed across portions of the central and southern Plains. In Oklahoma, daily-record totals
included 1.72 inches in Lawton and 1.61 inches in Oklahoma City. Amarillo, TX, received March 21-22 precipitation totaling 1.25 inches, including 4.6 inches of snow. Thunderstorms spawned a rash of tornadoes on March 21 across southern Oklahoma and the
eastern half of Texas. One fatality was reported in Grayson County, TX, from a short-lived EF-2 tornado (winds near 130 mph) that crossed into Marshall County, OK, before lifting. On March 22, a tornado-related fatality was recorded in Louisiana, where
an EF-3 twister (winds near 160 mph) traveled 11.5 miles from near Terrytown, in Jefferson Parish, to just south of New Orleans, battering the community of Arabi. Elsewhere on the 22nd, daily-rainfall rainfall totals topped 3 inches in locations such as
Pine Bluff, AR (3.87 inches); Shreveport, LA (3.81 inches); and Tuscaloosa, AL (3.56 inches). Farther north, heavy snow blanketed the upper Great Lakes region, where International Falls, MN, set daily records for March 22 with 12.8 inches of snow and
precipitation totaling 1.06 inches. By March 23, locally heavy showers spread into the Great Lakes and Eastern States; daily-record totals reached 1.66 inches in Lynchburg, VA, and 1.19 inches in Alpena, MI. Snow lingered through the 23rd in the southern
Rockies and environs; Albuquerque, NM, received 3.1 inches on March 22-23, aided by a daily-record sum (2.4 inches) on the latter date. Late in the week, precipitation continued across the Northeast, where daily-record amounts included 1.63 inches of
rain (on March 24) in Islip, NY, and 4.5 inches of snow (on March 25) in Caribou, ME.
27-Apr. 2: Another week of active weather included a severe-weather outbreak, which swept eastward from the central and southern Plains to the middle and southern Atlantic States from March 29-31. During the outbreak’s peak, on March 30, dozens of
tornadoes were spotted across the South, extending as far north as southern Illinois. Before dawn on March 31, two tornado-related fatalities were reported in northern Florida near Alford. Heavy rain accompanied the severe weather, with 1- to 3-inch
totals common from the mid-South into the Southeast. Higher totals (4 inches or more) were observed across the northern part of Florida’s peninsula, with the bulk of the rain falling on April 1-2. Significant rain also fell in parts of the Midwest,
from Missouri to Michigan. However, only light precipitation dampened the drought-affected High Plains, with meaningful totals in the nation’s mid-section largely limited to the northern and eastern Plains.
At week’s end, Western winds increased in advance of an approaching storm system; in Montana, peak gusts on April 2 were clocked to 65 mph at Dillon Airport and 61 mph in Bozeman. With cold air in place during the first half of the week across the
Northeast, snow showers were common. Pittsburgh, PA, received 4.3 inches of snow from March 26-28, aided by a daily-record sum of 2.5 inches on the 27th. With a monthly snowfall of 17.1 inches, Pittsburgh completed its snowiest March since 1993, when 34.
1 inches fell. Meanwhile, heavy showers grazed coastal and nearcoastal areas of California, where Santa Barbara netted a dailyrecord total (1.27 inches) for March 28. Rainfall for the 28th also topped an inch in southern California locations such as
Sandberg (1.64 inches), Oxnard (1.33 inches), downtown Los Angeles (1.32 inches), Burbank (1.25 inches), Camarillo (1.21 inches), and Santa Maria (1.02 inches). Later, snow blanketed portions of the Plains and upper Midwest. Record-setting totals for
March 30 reached 3.3 inches in Duluth, MN; 3.1 inches in Aberdeen, SD; and 2.4 inches in Wichita, KS. Farther east, heavy rain across Michigan led to record-setting totals for March 30 in Muskegon (1.18 inches) and Saginaw (1.08 inches). As the month
ended, contrasting precipitation extremes resulted in the driest March on record in Del Rio, TX (a trace, tying five other years), and the wettest March on record in Gainesville, FL (12.59 inches; previously, 11.13 inches in 1996). As April began, a new
round of heavy rain overspread parts of Florida. With a total of 4.46 inches on the 1st, Melbourne, FL, experienced its wettest April day on record (previously, 4.29 inches on April 4, 1973). Florida’s rain lingered into April 2, when daily-record
amounts reached 2.45 inches in Vero Beach and 1.64 inches in Leesburg. Meanwhile, some additional snow fell in the Midwest; Waterloo, IA, measured a daily-record sum of 3.0 inches on April 2.

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