March was mild, wet for most of the region
It won’t surprise most people that this past March was warmer and, for most, wetter than normal.
Temperatures were above average across all of Atlantic Canada in March – in most cases, about 2 to 4 C warmer than normal, but 3 to 5 C across Labrador.
Several communities were in the top five for warmest March on record, including the warmest March on record in Summerside, P.E.I., second warmest on record in Halifax (Shearwater) and CFB Greenwood, third warmest in Charlo, N.B., and Bonavista, N.L. and fourth warmest in Sydney, N.S.
March precipitation, including rain and snow, was near to above average over much of eastern Nova Scotia, including Cape Breton, along with most of Newfoundland and Labrador. Precipitation was otherwise well above normal across the rest of Nova Scotia, parts of western Newfoundland, along with Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.
Precipitation was 200 to 250-plus percent higher than normal for a large portion of central and southern New Brunswick, near and along Nova Scotia’s Fundy coast, parts of western P.E.I., and from Stephenville northeast towards the northern peninsula in Newfoundland.
Dissect the data further though, and except for parts of northern New Brunswick and parts of Newfoundland and Labrador, March snowfall was below normal across the rest of the region. That inflates March rainfall to be 200 to 400-plus per cent higher than normal at several stations, allowing several communities to also fall into the top five list for the wettest March on record.
A multi-day rain event that brought much of the month’s rain near the end of it led to significant flooding and damage in some communities.
On another note, the warmer-than-normal temperatures and storms caused seasonal ice cover by the end of March in the Gulf of St. Lawrence to drop to the lowest on record so far since records began in 1968-69. Ice off Newfoundland was below normal while it was near monthly averages along the Labrador coast.
We’ll cross our fingers for more balanced weather with no extremes in temperatures or precipitation.