Last March went down as one of the most brutal in US cold weather history and this March is getting off on a similarly frigid, record breaking note. Last March saw all-time records tumble through the Plains and Midwest. This March is seeing all-time records fall further east. This frigid open to March follows what may have been the coldest February in living memory for the Eastern US.

Feb 2015

March 2014 followed a colder winter than this year!

Dec-Feb 2013-14

TOP IMAGE CREDIT: Chad Rachman

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Why such extreme cold?

Take a close look at the global SST anomalies from early March 2014 vs March 2015.

Almost identical with warm WESTERN equatorial Pac/warm NE Pac with cold water in between and the colder than normal N Atl. It’s amazing how similar the current extreme pattern is compared to this time last year, especially considering last winter was warm over Europe and this year was also warm across Europe.

Credit: Simon Cardy

Here’s the first week of March 2014.

The central based El Nino, strongly east QBO has helped lead to the cold pool and snowiest weather further east this year compared to last.

Looking back at the first week of March 2015

Record-Breaking Cold: All-Time March Record Lows Set

By Chris Dolce

All-time March record lows have been broken as one more shot of bitterly cold air plunged south in the wake of Winter Storm Thor. Some cities have seen their coldest temperatures in decades for so late in the season.

(MORE: Coldest February on Record | February’s Siberian Express)

This round of arctic air followed right behind Winter Storm Thor. The snow cover left behind by Thor played a role in just how cold temperatures bottomed out in some cities.

Actual Low Temperatures on Friday March 6, 2015

Friday Records

All-Time March Record Low:
– Pittsburgh set its all-time March record low with 5 below zero (previous record was 1 below zero last set March 2, 1980)
– Paducah, Kentucky set its all-time March record low with a low of 6 below zero (previous record was 2 below zero in March 1960)
– Lexington, Kentucky tied its all-time March record low of 2 below zero (March 5-6, 1960)
– Urbana, Illinois set its all-time March record low with a low of 7 below zero

Coldest So Late in the Season:
– Pittsburgh also set its coldest temperature there this late in the winter season with its low of 5 below zero
– Morgantown, West Virginia dropped to 3 below zero making it the coldest low temperature recorded so late in the season (previous record was 1 degrees on March 4, 2014)

Daily Record Lows (new record is in parentheses): Chicago (0 degrees), Cincinnati, Ohio (0 degrees), Toledo, Ohio (5 below zero), Detroit (0 degrees), Buffalo, New York (1 below zero), Montpelier, Vermont (16 below zero), Bangor, Maine (14 below zero), Atlantic City, New Jersey (8 degrees), Washington, D.C. – Dulles International Airport (6 degrees), Baltimore (10 degrees), Charleston, West Virginia (5 degrees), Nashville (9 degrees), Memphis, Tennessee (15 degrees),  Little Rock, Arkansas (17 degrees), Austin, Texas (21 degrees), Tupelo, Mississippi (18 degrees), Baton Rouge, Louisiana (26 degrees) and Huntsville, Alabama (16 degrees)

Louisville, Kentucky saw its first March single digit low since 1980 as temperatures dropped to 9 degrees.

Saturday Records

Below-average low temperatures persisted from the Gulf Coast to the Northeast. Lows in the single digits and teens were recorded in much of the Northeast, with a few below zero readings in northern New England.

All-Time March Record Low:

– Harrisburg, Pennsylvania set its all-time March record low as a temperature of 1 below zero was recorded Saturday morning

Daily Record Lows (new record is in parentheses): Baltimore (6 degrees), Washington, D.C. – Dulles International Airport (2 degrees), Atlantic City (8 degrees), Wilmington, Delaware (5 degrees), Allentown, Pennsylvania (0 degrees), Greenwood, Mississippi (23 degrees) and Lewisburg, West Virginia (13 degrees)

Midweek Cold

Map showing the incredible temperature contrast in Mississippi and adjacent parts of Alabama, Tennessee and Arkansas around 1:30 pm CT on Wednesday. Tunica (37 degrees) and Aberdeen (81 degrees) in Mississippi are highlighted.

On Wednesday, the frigid air mass collided with mild conditions in the South to make for some incredible temperature contrasts across short distances. In Mississippi, temperatures at 1:30 p.m. CST ranged from 37 degrees in the town of Tunica to 81 degrees in Aberdeen. In Greenville, Mississippi, the temperature fell from 74 degrees to 53 degrees in just 11 minutes from 12:53 p.m. to 1:04 p.m. CST.

Thursday morning, subzero temperatures were reported in parts of the Dakotas, northeast Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, northern Illinois, Wisconsin and northern Michigan. Cotton, Minnesota dipped to minus 40 degrees, while lows of 33 below zero were recorded at Stambaugh and Spincich Lake in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Thursday afternoon featured another huge temperature gradient across the Southeast, with readings at 1:45 p.m. ET ranging from the 20s, 30s and 40s to the 80s. In Jackson, Mississippi, the 2 p.m. CST temperature was 81 degrees Wednesday; at the same time Thursday, it was 30 degrees.

Last March overall.

Here’s why this March shouldn’t wind up average or warmer than average.

GFS rebuilds the ridge back up into the Yukon and Alaska, OVER that anomalously warm water up the west coast. This sends further cold highs down into the re strengthening eastern trough…

Credit: AccuWeather Pro

Credit: AccuWeather Pro

Credit: AccuWeather Pro

2m temp anomalies through next 16 days.

Credit: AccuWeather Pro

The frigid March of 2014 and open to March 2015 is in stark contrast to March 2012 which saw all-time records fall on the other end of the temperature ledger.

The SST profile in the Pacific and Atlantic is incredibly a near perfect OPPOSITE!

Be sure to watch today’s video for the discussion. Interesting times.

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