MONTHLY CLIMATOLOGICAL SUMMARY for MAR. 2004 NAME: Charleswood CITY: Winnipeg STATE: MB ELEV: 235 m LAT: 49° 54' 00" N LONG: 97° 18' 00" W TEMPERATURE (°C), RAIN (mm), SNOW/SOG (CM), WIND SPEED (km/h) HEAT AVG MEAN DEG WIND DOM DAY TEMP HIGH TIME LOW TIME DAYS RAIN SNOW SPEED HIGH TIME DIR SOG ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 -1.4 0.3 2:45p -3.3 11:00p 19.7 0.0 0.0 15.4 48.3 12:45p N 35 2 -3.8 -0.6 12:00p -11.1 12:00m 22.1 0.0 0.3 6.8 27.4 4:45p N 35 3 -12.6 -9.3 2:45p -16.2 10:30p 30.9 0.0 0.0 2.9 17.7 2:30a N 35 4 -10.2 -4.7 5:15p -16.2 4:00a 28.5 0.0 0.3 2.7 29.0 10:30a SSE 35 5 -5.9 -2.2 2:30p -11.7 11:15p 24.2 0.0 6.1 4.3 19.3 10:30a N 41 6 -5.1 -0.9 9:15p -10.2 12:15a 23.4 0.0 2.0 10.3 45.1 3:45p S 39 7 -4.3 -1.1 3:45p -10.5 11:30p 22.6 0.0 0.0 6.3 35.4 10:30a N 38 8 -2.2 4.4 4:00p -10.4 12:15a 20.3 0.0 0.0 4.3 27.4 2:45p N 36 9 -1.4 3.1 3:00p -9.5 7:30a 19.7 0.0 0.0 11.7 49.9 7:30p SSW 35 10 -5.9 3.4 7:00a -17.8 9:30p 24.2 0.0 1.0 12.7 46.7 10:45a N 33 11 -18.7 -15.2 3:45p -23.2 7:15a 37.0 0.0 0.5 8.4 51.5 1:30a N 34 12 -9.7 -4.8 11:45p -17.4 12:15a 27.9 0.0 0.0 4.0 20.9 10:30a S 33 13 -2.6 1.2 1:45p -4.9 12:15a 20.8 0.0 1.0 6.9 40.2 12:00m N 33 14 -7.3 -3.1 12:15a -14.3 12:00m 25.6 0.0 0.5 10.9 46.7 2:30a N 34 15 -9.5 -2.5 3:45p -17.8 6:00a 27.8 0.0 0.0 5.6 30.6 10:15p S 34 16 -1.9 1.0 3:45p -4.7 12:15a 20.3 0.0 7.1 13.5 48.3 9:30a SSW 34 17 -3.4 2.5 3:00p -10.9 7:00a 21.4 0.0 0.0 2.4 17.7 12:45p SSW 38 18 -4.3 1.3 12:45p -10.9 6:45a 22.6 0.0 0.0 2.7 19.3 2:00a N 37 19 0.8 6.8 3:15p -5.2 12:00m 17.3 0.3 0.0 11.4 54.7 7:30p N 35 20 -10.9 -5.2 12:15a -14.9 8:45a 29.2 0.0 0.0 14.2 56.3 3:00a N 30 21 -12.3 -7.6 3:30p -19.2 6:45a 30.6 0.0 0.0 3.2 22.5 12:15a SSW 30 22 -5.6 2.1 12:15p -11.3 12:00m 23.8 0.0 0.0 6.0 35.4 4:45p N 30 23 -7.9 -1.2 10:00p -17.2 6:15a 26.0 0.0 0.0 7.7 40.2 1:45p S 29 24 1.9 7.3 1:15p -2.7 6:45a 16.4 0.0 0.0 3.4 27.4 4:30a S 28 25 1.5 11.6 1:30p -10.2 12:00m 14.7 0.0 0.0 6.3 38.6 9:00p SSW 25 26 -6.7 0.4 12:00m -11.6 6:00a 25.0 0.0 0.0 8.0 30.6 12:15a N 20 27 2.9 4.9 12:15p 0.4 12:15a 15.4 35.3 0.0 4.5 38.6 6:00a SSE 18 28 1.9 5.5 1:45p -0.4 12:00m 16.3 7.6 0.0 8.4 30.6 9:00p N 15 29 -2.8 -0.4 12:15a -5.9 12:00m 21.1 0.0 2.8 10.5 45.1 10:30a N 12 30 -2.2 3.1 3:45p -9.4 6:30a 20.5 0.0 0.0 2.7 19.3 2:00p SSW 12 31 3.4 8.6 4:00p -0.9 12:15a 14.8 0.0 0.0 7.7 38.6 12:15p S 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -4.7 11.6 25 -23.2 11 710.1 43.2 21.6 7.3 56.3 20 N MARCH 2004 HIGHLIGHTS ..Typical spring month ends with heavy rainstorm.. March 2004 was a fairly typical spring month over Winnipeg with frequent variations between cold and mild spells indicative of the climatic transition from winter to spring over Manitoba. Overall temperatures for the month averaged slightly above normal, but slightly below normal at the Winnipeg airport. Temperature extremes for the month at my site ranged from a high of 11.6C on the 25th to a low of -23.2C on the 11th. Precipitation was also on pace to be near average for March, until a late month rainstorm brought heavy rainfall to much of the Red River valley and southern Manitoba on the 27th. The storm system, which was accompanied by some unusual March thunderstorms, produced 40 to 50 mm of rain throughout Winnipeg in 24 hours, leading to extensive overland flooding due to frozen ground, melting snow and blocked ditches. The rainstorm produced the heaviest 24 hour rainfall ever recorded in March in Winnipeg (45 mm), eclipsing the former mark of 32.0 mm set back on March 9 , 1878. The heavy rain caused extensive problems over much of Southern Manitoba with several communities declaring states of emergency due to flooding. The rain forced the opening of the Winnipeg floodway for the first time in 2 years on April 1st, to ease the threat of flooding in the city. Up to the 27th, flooding was not a concern in Southern Manitoba since river levels were so low this year leading up to the spring melt. Snow cover was slow to leave Winnipeg this year, with over 40 cm of snow on the ground through the first half of March before dropping to 10 cm by the 31st. This will likely mark the latest loss of snow cover in Winnipeg since April 1997 - the year of the Great Red River Flood.