You might hear myself or another meteorologist say that "normal" high temperatures for early March are the low 40s. That’s true, but a better word might be "average" high temperatures. March is known for wild swings from one day to the next, or even one hour to the next. In fact, on March 2, the temperature in Boston has been as cold as 0 (1886) and as warm as 66 (2004).
Wednesday started with temps in the mid 50s! A cold front moved through the area and temps have been falling since. Thursday morning temps will only be in the upper teens to low 20s, about 30-40 degrees colder! The wind will make it feel even colder!
Temperatures stay well below "normal" or "average" through the weekend. That means we need to keep a close eye on a storm that will be moving up the coast from the Carolinas. It could move more to the east and miss us entirely. It could take more of a northerly turn, hugging the coast. Temperatures will be cold enough that snow, rather than rain, would be the most likely outcome in that case. Right now it looks like a glancing blow…a coating up to a couple of inches of snow mainly for the Cape and the Islands.
Then the weather pattern does another 180…from a very cold pattern to a very warm pattern! It looks more and more likely that we are in for much warmer than "normal" or "average" temperatures for next week. In fact, the latest 8-14 day outlook from the Climate Prediction Center says there is a 70% chance of above "normal" or "average" temperatures for March 9-15. Welcome to March!
