March in the Almanor basin – more snow, less water

By Dale Knutsen

The weather situation for the Lake Almanor basin during March can be expressed with one statement: chilly, with more snow than average but less water content.

The west shore measured 28 inches of snowfall during the month, which is about 7 inches more than average for March. That brought the season total to 97.5 inches, or 82 percent of the long-term average. However, most of that snow was relatively dry. The July-June total precipitation accumulation only rose 3.36 inches during March, for a season total of 18.33 inches (67 percent of average).

March temperatures ranged from an extreme low of 13 degrees to a peak high of 68 degrees. All of our morning lows were below freezing, with an average low of 21.2 degrees (about 4 degrees colder than the norm). Afternoon highs averaged 51.4 degrees, about half a degree warmer than the long-term figure.

April is typically a drier month with gradually warming temperatures as springtime settles in. Below freezing morning temperatures are still common in April, leading to some caution yet on when to start garden plantings.