March 2020 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

Late March Storm Ends Snowfall, Precipitation Vacation

Milder Than Average March, But Rivers on the Rise

Despite a prolonged period of snow cover (102 consecutive days with at least an inch between November 27 and March 8, 16 days longer than average), precipitation and snowfall had been relatively rare since the start of February. There had been only 0.45 inch of precipitation and 2.2 inches of snow between February 1 and March 27. Most of northern and central Minnesota had picked up less than half an inch of precipitation during the nearly two month period.

However, that changed drastically on March 28 with a wet storm that turned white on the night of March 28 into the early morning of March 29. There were 1.71 inch of precipitation at the St. Cloud Airport, 1.40 inch that fell on March 28. That total broke the daily record for precipitation ( old record was 0.80 inch in 1920). Some portions of western Hennepin County picked up over two and a half inches of precipitation. During the snow period on that night, St. Cloud State University picked up 4.0 inches of wet snow.

That storm turned a dry and mild March into a much wetter one. St. Cloud had a total of 2.00 inches of precipitation during March, 0.45 inch above average. The snowfall, however, was 4.4 inches , 3.7 inches inches below the March average. It was also a huge contrast to the late heavy snow seasons of the past two seasons. There were more than 46 inches of snow just in February, March and April of the past two snow seasons. While April is still left in the snow season, the total 2019-2020 snowfall is 43.7 inches, very close to the average through the end of March.

However, the wet storm did cause problems. The large snow cover from earlier in the season melted in the southern half of Minnesota in the middle of the month, pushing all of that water into area streams and rivers. That produced some minor to moderate flooding along the Minnesota River and its tributaries. The snow melt wasn't as gradual along the Red River Valley, so tributaries and the main stream were already flooding late in the month. The late heavy storm aggravated the situation. In the next week, minor flooding is expected along much of the Minnesota River and the Upper Mississippi River. Minor to moderate flooding will occur along the Mississippi downstream of the Minnesota River from St. Paul through southeastern Minnesota. The Red River is even more aggravated with moderate to major flooding in most areas. Any more major rainfall would make the situation worse.

Before the end of the month storm, March was mostly benign. The first 50-degree high of the spring occurred nearly right on schedule on March 8 ( 5 days before the median date). Overall, March had an average temperature of 33.1 degrees, 3.7 degrees above average. It was the milder March in 4 years, since the previous three Marches had heavy snowfall leading to a lingering snow cover.

Overall the cold season of 2019-2020 continues to be a modest one. There were no days with a low of -20 or colder, 2 days with a high of zero or colder, and 28 days with a low of zero or colder. All of these were well below the average for a St. Cloud winter.