March has been the coldest month so far this winter season

The month of March, so far on average, has been 9 degrees cooler than where we should typically be this time of year.  With the exception of one day back on the 10th of March, each day has been below average; by almost 20 degrees on some days!  However, as the sun shines on this late Tuesday morning things are looking up towards the end of the week and it looks like we'll go into the weekend with near normal temperatures (highs in the low 50s). 

The reason it's been so chilly the month of March is simply due to the placement of the jetstream.  We've been in what we call 'northwest flow'.  Meaning winds in the jetstream are coming from the northwest which is helps to pull down the cooler air from Canada.  First Warn Weather Intern Eddie Wildermuth discussed in a previous post the effects the negative phase of the NAO and AO have the weather across the Great Lakes and Northeast.  (Click here to read the post)

The blocking pattern over the past few weeks has made it hard for temperatures to rise much past the 30s - let alone rise into the 40s.  This pattern will begin to change heading in to the weekend.  While we'll continue with the northwest flow in the jetstream, surface temperatures will slowly moderate through weekend as the March sunshine helps to warm surface temperatures closer to average.  It does, though, look like we may dip back below average early next week with the passage of a cold front Sunday and Sunday night.