NATIONAL STORM SUMMARY

MARCH 2005


6th-12th...In the East, a strong area of low pressure, and associated
cold front, are plowing through the region, producing wide-spread rain
showers and strong to severe thunderstorms. Rain showers spread from
the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, northward into the Northeast and
Mid-Atlantic late in the day. There were a few isolated thunderstorms
embedded within the showers; however, no severe weather as been
reported with this activity. Rainfall amounts thus far remain under a
quarter of an inch. Moving to the Southeast and Florida, scattered
rain showers and strong to severe thunderstorms developed during the
evening hours. The main threat with these storms has been frequent
lightning, winds gusting to 50 mph, large hail, and heavy downpours.
In fact, Jackson, Mississippi received 0.87 inches of rain, and
reported a wind gust of 50 mph. There have also been quite a few
severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings issued as well. High
temperatures reached into the upper 40s and 50s in the Northeast, the
Great Lakes, and the Ohio Valley; and into the 60s and 70s in the
Tennessee Valley, the Mid-Atlantic, and the Southeast; and into the
upper 70s and lower 80s in southern Florida.
In the central part of the country, a cold front pushing through the
southern Plains and Gulf Coast regions, brought scattered rain showers
and strong to severe thunderstorms to the area earlier in the day. The
main concern with the storms was frequent lightning, gusty winds,
large hail, and heavy rainfall. Nickel to penny size hail fell in many
locations across Texas. However, the place to be for hail was in San
Antonio, Texas as walnut size hail accumulated to 3 or 4 inches deep
in spots. A house was even struck by lightning in Pasadena, Texas.
Heavy rainfall also created many flooding problems in Louisiana and
eastern Texas as well.
A strong low pressure system and cold front spread locally heavy rain,
thunderstorms, freezing rain and blowing snow across the East on
Tuesday. Rain fell along the Eastern Seaboard from Florida and Georgia
into parts of New England during the morning and early afternoon.
Thunderstorms hammered North Carolina with 70 mph wind gusts, damaging
buildings and knocking out power to thousands of customers. Hail as
big as golf balls was reported at New Hope, NC,
In colder air along the western side of the band of precipitation,
snow fell during the morning along the Appalachians, from eastern
Tennessee and western North Carolina to New York state, and by late
afternoon the snow had pushed eastward to the coast.
Whipping wind, plunging temperatures and a coating of snow and ice
caused power outages and whiteout conditions, ending the Northeast's
brief flirtation with spring. The storm dumped as much as 10 inches of
snow at Rutland, west of Boston, the National Weather Service said
Wednesday. Six inches of snow accumulated in East Hartford, Conn., and
northern New Jersey's Blairstown Township reported 4 inches. Logan
International Airport closed shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday because of
whiteout conditions in blowing snow, but was back to normal operations
with two runways reopened at midmorning Wednesday, Massachusetts Port
Authority spokesman Phil Orlandella said. Between 400 and 450
travelers were stranded overnight, and Orlandella said the airport
provided cots for them. Massachusetts utilities reported about 22,000
homes and businesses lost power during the storm Tuesday, with fewer
than 3,000 still blacked out
Wednesday. The storm system battered much of the East on Tuesday, from
the snow and ice in New England to vicious thunderstorms in North
Carolina. The wind hit 61 mph in New Jersey's Sussex County, 50 mph in
Massachusetts at in Weymouth and Scituate, south of Boston, and 86 mph
at Wilmington, N.C. Kitty Hawk, NC, had an unofficial measurement of a
gust to 110 mph. The thunderstorms in North Carolina toppled trees and
damaged buildings, including an 80,000-square-foot airport hangar
under construction that was toppled at Elizabeth City. In Cumberland
County, an estimated 23,000 chickens died when the wind blew the roofs
off a pair of chicken houses. At least 85,000 utility customers lost
power. The storm gave Boston 4.8 inches of snow, pushing the city's
total to about 83 inches, nearly doubling the annual average of 42
inches. The record of 107.6 inches was set in 1995-96. Some coastal
towns to the north and south have seen significantly more, including
18 inches that fell on Cape Cod in one December storm. A slow-moving
storm dropped as much as 3 feet of snow on the mountains
of New Mexico on Tuesday, and rain fell across parts of the southern
Plains and the South. Low pressure system sitting over the southern
Rockies produced the
heavy, wet snow in New Mexico. The heaviest snowfall was in the
north-central part of the state, with 34 inches at Mineral Hill, a
small community about 15 miles west of Las Vegas, the National Weather
Service said. The snow closed highways, schools and some state
government offices in the area.
Rain spread across wide areas of the Southeast, Texas and the lower
Mississippi Valley on Wednesday. Heavy showers continued in the
Southeast. Amounts included 3 1/2 inches in Apalachicola, FL; 2 1/2
inches in Valdosta, GA; 2 inches in
Tallahassee, FL, and Savannah, GA; and 1 inch in Mobile, AL.
A storm dumped more than a foot of snow on parts of Minnesota,
Wisconsin and South Dakota on Friday, prompting dozens of schools to
start late or close only days before the official start of spring.
Sioux Falls, SD, area reported 9 inches of snow piling up before noon,
and 14 inches were reported in Albert Lea, Minn. Authorities in
Minnesota's Mower County reported numerous cars in ditches, and even
tow trucks were getting stuck in the snow. Parts of Michigan saw as
much as 3 inches of snow, and a few lingering rain showers brought
light drizzle and small precipitation totals to the coast of North
Carolina and southern Florida. Gusty wind accompanied the low pressure
system as it pushed up from the central Plains, with sustained wind of
up to 40 mph throughout much of the area.

20th-26th...Heavy rain fell in the Plains and eastern Texas on Monday,
while showers dampened northern California and the Pacific Northwest.
The central Plains were hard hit, with more than an inch of rain
reported in many spots by early afternoon. Thunderstorms broke out in
the southeastern Plains and lower Mississippi Valley. Watches or
warnings for severe thunderstorms were issued for parts of eastern
Texas; Whitney, Texas, reported 3/4-inch hail. More than an inch of
rain fell in Fort Hood, Texas; Wichita, KS; and Lexington, NE;
McAlester, OK, received nearly 1 1/2 inches.
Thunderstorms lashed the Southeast and Gulf regions Tuesday, bringing
hail and a tornado to Alabama, and rain stretched northward into the
Ohio and mid-Mississippi valleys. Showers were scattered over parts of
the West. Hail, lightning and heavy downpours were reported across the
South from Mississippi to Georgia and northern Florida, with 60 to 70
mph wind associated with storms that moved across southern Mississippi
during the morning. A tornado touched down near Dothan, Ala., injuring
four people, and 1 1/2-inch hail - about the size of a pingpong ball -
was reported at Wilsonville, AL. Showers from the southern storm
system extended up into the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, curving
westward into parts of Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and Arkansas. Pine
Bluff, AR, reported more than 2 inches of rain. Show showers were
scattered over the northern Plains, with up to 6 inches across the
Dakotas and 1 to 3 inches in Nebraska and Iowa.
Waves of showers and thunderstorms spread locally heavy rain across
parts of the East on Wednesday, and snow was scattered over the West.
A strong low pressure system powered the stormy weather in the East,
carrying rain across the Southeast, the Ohio Valley and along the
southern and central Appalachians and much of the East Coast. Heaviest
rainfall by midday included 2.11 inches at Baltimore; 1.95 at
Georgetown, DE; 1.45 at both Martinsburg, WV, and Wildwood, NJ, and
1.11 at York, PA. A broad band of thunderstorms and showers also
soaked large areas of Florida.
A powerful storm system battered parts of Georgia and Florida on
Friday. Heavy rain and severe thunderstorms hit southern Georgia and
northern Florida. Several towns reported hail up to 1 3/4 inches in
diameter, and roof damage was reported in Middleburg, FL. Heavier rain
amounts in the region included nearly 2 inches in Panama City, FL, and
more than an inch in Valdosta and Savannah, GA, and
Tallahassee and Gainesville, FL

27th-31st...Storms packing large hail, lightning and up to 8 inches of
rain pounded the Southeast, forcing some people from their homes,
washing out roads and flooding rivers. Parts of a dam failed Sunday
near Albany, in Lee County, where 4 inches of rain fell in 24 hours.
Firefighters urged nearby residents to evacuate, but they could not
say how many actually did. Public works crews dug out a section of the
dam to relieve the pressure on the rest of the structure.
Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama got the worst of the weekend storms,
with up to 8 inches of rain and hail as big as baseballs Sunday in
parts of Georgia.
Firefighters in northwest Atlanta had to use ladders to rescue
children from a house surrounded by rising water. A possible tornado
Sunday afternoon damaged trees and homes in a rural area near
Montgomery, AL, but no injuries were reported, said Anita Patterson,
director of the Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency. Two
people were injured in Mississippi. A Yazoo County man was
hospitalized in stable condition after a tree and power lines fell on
his car, agency spokeswoman Lea Stokes said. A woman in Yazoo County
was treated and released after "hail went through the windshield of
her car." Resident of southwest Georgia's Dougherty County left Sunday
church services to find that water had rapidly risen over a road. In
Wilcox County, the rain washed out roads.
Thunderstorms, including hail, hit parts of Iowa, Illinois, Missouri
and
Wisconsin on Wednesday. Strong, gusty wind was reported in the
Missouri Valley and upper Mississippi River Valley, and in much of the
Plains.
Rain showers developed over Kansas and Oklahoma, parts of the South
and the upper Great Lakes on Thursday, while rain and snow was
reported over parts of Colorado and New Mexico. A cold front slowly
pushed east through the South, and through the Ohio and Tennessee
river valleys, triggering showers and thunderstorms. Heavy rain
produced flash flooding or river flooding in Alabama, Georgia, the
Carolinas and Florida Panhandle; Alabaster, AL, reported nearly 3
inches of rain by midday. Rain and snow in parts of Colorado and New
Mexico; snowfall totals ranged from 4-8 inches, although a few higher
elevations reported up to a foot of snow.