March warmed up considerably during the past week, jumping four degrees overall to bring the average temperature for the month to -0.6 degrees Celsius, almost a degree warmer than the monthly average of -1.4 C. This was aided and abetted by four very warm days at the beginning of the week with daytime highs in the low teens, with one day reaching 18 C. The maple sap did start to run but the wet sloppy weather that followed did not make conditions very suitable for making syrup.
Precipitation in the last week was all over the place with freezing rain and snow, depending on where you live in the Valley. As the warm temperatures dissipated mid-week, 18 millimetres of rain and freezing rain fell, and there was a lot of flooding around Huntingdon as the ice in the Chateauguay River broke up in one great rush. Not to mention the power outages in several Valley communities as the freezing rain brought trees and branches down.
Precipitation for the month-to-date now stands at 30 mm of rain and 6 centimetres of snow which melted down to 6 mm of water, for a total of 36 mm – slightly below normal for the time of year. The snow cover on the ground is mostly gone except for the leftovers from the drifts and snowbanks, although further north and east there is still snow to be seen in many places.
The rest of March will be mostly cloudy, on the cool side of average with several rain and or snow events. Winter is not done yet.