March was colder than February in Philly - again
It has only happened five other times in 144 years of record keeping.
March is February, and February is March.
That's the message Mother Nature sent us for the second year in a row.
Highs in Philadelphia averaged several degrees colder in March than in February. And snow? The 15.2 inches in March — some of which came from three nor'easters in a week-and-a-half (one, two, three) — obliterated February's measly 1.4 inches.
In 144 years of record-keeping, March has only been colder than February five other times in Philadelphia, including last year. The last time it happened in back-to-back years was 1890 and 1891.
As my colleague Tony Wood explains, the reason for the cold was the onset of a so-called sudden stratospheric warming, or SSW, that set off a chain of events resulting in March's bonding with its inner February.
Aside from snow, the biggest issue in March was the high winds: They brought down massive trees and knocked out power to thousands during the March 2 storm, which a Peco executive called one of the worst storms in the utility's history.
As if the March cold and snow weren't enough, April is expected to start off with snow, too.