The weather in Denver during march features frequent and rapid changes. Longer days allowing for more sunshine make for summer-like weather. However occasional arctic air masses can still plunge southward across Colorado, rapidly dropping temperatures, with some readings falling to near zero degree readings.

The changeable weather is due to weather elements common to both winter and spring. In addition to the arctic fronts, Pacific storms still frequently move in from the west and warm moist air streams in from the Gulf of Mexico northwestward into Colorado. When any of the cold fronts collide over Colorado with the warmer air masses, the results can be wild and crazy for the area surrounding the Denver metropolitan area.

A prime example of the changeable March weather in Denver occurred on March 8, 1992. The sky was sunny over Denver during the morning hours, allowing the temperature to reach 52 degrees by mid-day. During the afternoon tornadoes and thunderstorms containing hail, developed across the northeast plains including the Denver metro area. A Canadian cold front zipped across the east during the late afternoon, dropping temperatures sharply and creating blizzard conditions along the front range. The storm dumped 12.4 inches of snow at Stapleton International Airport, with greater amounts reported across the metro area.

March is the snowiest month of the year in Denver. However, even the heaviest snow rarely stays on the ground very long due to the abundance of sunshine and rapidly moderating temperatures. In addition, March usually has the first spring thunderstorm of the year and there are still a few days where strong Chinook winds are observed, but the strongest winds are generally near the foothills.

March 2000 had 13 days with measurable precipitation, which was 4 above normal. This was good news for Denver because March was the first above normal precipitation month since August 1999. The precipitation during the month was a mixed bag of rain and snow, all bringing much-needed moisture relief. The month finished with 1.96 inches of precipitation, which was 0.70 inch above normal. Snowfall for the month of March, Denver's snowiest month, finished just slightly below normal with 11.3 inches (normal is 12.5 inches). It was the 5th month in a row of below normal snowfall.

For the Denver area, the National Weather Service 30-day outlook model does not favor any particular weather pattern for March 2001. The March normals for Denver are listed below:

Average high.............................. 52.2
Average low............................... 23.7
Monthly mean.............................. 38.0
Days with high 90 or above................ 0
Days with high 32 or below................ 3
Days with low 32 or below................ 24
Days with lows zero or below.............. 1

Monthly mean.............................. 1.26 inches
Average snowfall.......................... 12.5 inches *
Days with measurable precipitation........ 9
Days with 1.0 inch or more snowfall....... 4

*On An Average March Is Denver's Snowiest Month.

**Note: snowfall measured by coop observers at the former Stapleton International Airport.

Heating degree days....................... 837
Cooling degrees days...................... 0
Average wind speed........................ 9.7 miles per hour
Average wind direction.................... South
Days with thunderstorms................... average is less than one
Days with dense fog....................... 1
Percent of sunshine possible.............. 69

Record high................. 84 on March 26, 1971
Record low.................. -11 on March 28, 1886
Warmest..................... 50.4 degrees in 1910
Coldest..................... 26.4 degrees in 1912
Heating degree days......... Most: 1198 in 1912/Least: 452 in 1910
Cooling degree days......... Most/Least: 0
Wettest..................... 4.56 inches in 1983
Maximum 24 hour rainfall.... 2.79 inches in 1973
Driest...................... 0.11 inch in 1908
Snowiest.................... 32.5 inches in 1944
Least snowy.............. 0.3 inch in 1883
Maximum 24 hour snowfall.... 10.0 inches in 1983