Heavy March Precipitation

Tuesday rain totals across Texas.

Seems like March has been the month of heavy precipitation across portions of the nation. Here were some one day rain totals from yesterday across Texas – Alice picked up almost 2.50″ of rain! The 1.83″ in Corpus Christi brought the monthly total up to 5.35″, making this March the second wettest on record. Number one is 7.69″ back in 1903.

Here are some of the totals from the coastal bend of Texas up through the Ohio Valley. There are a few 6 and 7 inch totals in this area, but you can kind of see how quickly the precipitation tapers off on both sides. Note: one reason we keep saying precipitation is because some of this fell as snow, so the melted liquid from that snow is included in these totals.

And putting the precipitation this month so far across the nation on a map as dots, you can quickly pinpoint where the precipitation seems to continue to fall – from the coastal bend of Texas all the way up toward the Boston area in a nice little stripe.

Meanwhile, some of these totals are FAR above average for this time of year. Paducah, KY, is sitting at 7.95″ of precipitation so far this month – a good 5.78″ above average for this time of the month! Yikes!

You can tell what parts of the nation has been excessively wet when you plot the departure from average on a map. All those green dots represent places that have seen above average precipitation so far this month. Meanwhile, besides that stripe from Texas to near Boston, most of the rest of the nation has been relatively dry.

Here is expected liquid precipitation values over the next five days across the lower 48. Parts of Texas will continue to receive heavy rain, meanwhile some of the heaviest will actually shift southward from where that main band has been this month. We are also expecting the potential of heavy precipitation across portions of the Pacific Northwest.

[Track The Precipitation: Interactive Radar]

More Northeast Snow

Some of that moisture from the south will stream north over the next 24-48 hours, and we will likely see snow for parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast – coming in just in time for the commutes on Friday across these areas.

Winter Storm Watches and Winter Weather Advisories are in effect as of 11 AM ET for areas including Philadelphia and New York City for the day Friday due to potential snow.

[Map: Latest Watches, Warnings, and Advisories]

Here are projected snow totals from NWS offices across the Northeast. A band of 2-4″ is possible from Pennsylvania into Massachusetts. Philadelphia and Boston could pick up between 1-3″ of snow, while New York City could see 2-4″ of snow.

We’ll keep an eye on the rain and snow chance over the next few days here at Aeris Weather!

Meteorologist D.J. Kayser

Find me on Twitter (@dkayserwx) or on Facebook (Meteorologist D.J. Kayser)