Ithaca Climate Summary for March 1996

Temperature

• The month of March averaged 4.5 degrees colder than normal.
• There were only nine days during the month with above normal temperatures.
• This March was 7.4 degrees colder than last March, but slightly warmer than the year before.
• The month's warmest temperature was 65 degrees on the 25th and 31st.
• The coldest temperature of the month was 2 degrees recorded on 9th, 11th and 12th.

Precipitation

• Precipitation for the month totalled 2.27 inches, which was exactly equal to the monthly normal.
• This was more than double last March's precipitaton total.
• The greatest amount to fall during a daily observation period was 0.44 inches on the 6th.

Snowfall

• The March snowfall total was 18.9 inches, which was 8.7 inches above normal.
• This was significantly more than March 1995 (6.8 inches), but much less than the 30 plus inches that fell in each of the two Marches prior to that.
• The seasonal snowfall total at the end of the month was 97.1 inches, which was 34.1 inches more than normal.
• This seasonal total was the fifth highest October-March snowfall total on record.
• Snowfall totals for surrounding communities included 18.1 inches in Freeville, 17.7 inches in Groton, and 20 inches in Cortland.