March 2013 did a big turnaround for March of last year. State climatologist Harry Hillaker, says March of 2012 was much warmer than normal — but that wasn’t the case this year. “Preliminarily, temperatures averaging about seven degrees colder than usual,” Hillaker says.In Atlantic, the high temperature for the month averaged 42-degrees, which was about three-degrees cooler than normal. Hillaker says we have to go back all the way to 1984 to find a colder March, and possibly further back once all the data comes in. The cold in March brought along a bunch of snow too.

“Actually, the snowiest March since 1998 — the state average was about nine-point-eight inches — which is a little more than double what’s normal for the month, and so cold and snowy. And as far as precipitation in general for a state average, just barely above normal for the month — roughly about two-point-two inches of precipitation this month,” Hillaker says. The precipitation for the month kept a positive wet trend going.

“It would be the fourth consecutive month that our state average precipitation has actually been above normal,” Hillaker says. “We haven’t put a streak together like that for quite some time. None of those months really were exceptionally wet, but at least its kind of in the direction we want to be going with the ongoing long-term drought conditions that we’re still trying to overcome.”In Atlantic, we received a total of 6.3-inches of snow, which melted down into slightly less than an inch of liquid precipitation (.85″ inch), which was well below the normal amount we should have received for the month (2.29”).

Hillaker says the weather for Iowa in April could be warm and wet according to early predictions.

(Radio Iowa/data from KJAN)

Average High for the month: 42 degrees (normal avg. high 45)

*Warmest day 67 degrees on March 30th.

Average Low for the month: 20 (normal avg. 25)

*Coldest low 9 degrees on March 12th.

Precipitation (including rain/melted snow): .85″ (normal 2.29″)

Snowfall: 6.3″.

(Information compiled at the KJAN studios – the officials National Weather Service reporting station for Atlantic).

Here’s the Freese-Notis (podcast) weather forecast for Atlantic & the KJAN listening area, and weather data for Atlantic from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson…

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358 AM CDT MON APR 1 2013

TODAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. COLDER. HIGH IN THE LOWER 40S. NORTH WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOW IN THE LOWER 20S. NORTHEAST WIND NEAR 5 MPH.

TUESDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE UPPER 40S. NORTH WIND NEAR 5 MPH.

TUESDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOW IN THE MID 20S. SOUTHEAST WIND NEAR 5 MPH.

WEDNESDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE MID 50S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOW IN THE MID 30S. HIGH IN THE UPPER 50S.

FRIDAY…PARTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE LOWER 60S.

Today: Periods of Rain and Thunderstorms.  Cloudy to Partly Cloudy.  S switching to NW @ 5-10.  H 58.

Tonight: Partly Cloudy. NW @ 5-10.  L 36.

Sunday (Easter): Increasing clouds.  Light rain in the evening.  NW @ 5-10.  H 52.

Monday: Clearing skies.  H 38.

Tuesday: Clear skies. H low 40’s.

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346 AM CDT SAT MAR 30 2013

SATURDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. WIDESPREAD SHOWERS THROUGH MID MORNING. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THE DAY. SCATTERED SHOWERS IN THE LATE MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON. HIGH IN THE LOWER 60S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 10 MPH SHIFTING TO THE NORTHWEST 5 TO 15 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 80 PERCENT.

SATURDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. COLDER. LOW IN THE UPPER 30S. NORTHWEST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

EASTER SUNDAY…PARTLY SUNNY. A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF LIGHT RAIN LATE IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGH IN THE MID 50S. NORTHWEST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 25 MPH.

SUNDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. LIGHT RAIN LIKELY THROUGH MIDNIGHT…THEN A CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT. BREEZY…COLDER. SNOW ACCUMULATION UP TO 1 INCH. LOW IN THE MID 20S. NORTH WIND 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 30 MPH. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 60 PERCENT.

MONDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. COLDER. HIGH IN THE UPPER 30S. NORTH WIND 10 TO 15 MPH.

MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOW 15 TO 20. HIGH IN THE LOWER 40S.

The Freese-Notis weather forecast for Atlantic, & the KJAN listening area, and weather data for Atlantic….

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Today: Sunny, with a high near 63. Light east wind becoming southeast 6 to 11 mph in the morning.
Tonight: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 4am. Increasing clouds, with a low around 43. South southeast wind 7 to 11 mph. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Saturday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 7am, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm between 7am and 1pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 62. South wind 7 to 11 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 35. Northwest wind 6 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.

Sunday: Isolated showers after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 59. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Sunday Night: A chance of rain before 10pm, then a chance of rain and snow between 10pm and 1am, then a chance of snow after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 26. Blustery. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 38.

The Freese-Notis (podcast) weather forecast for Atlantic & the KJAN listening area, and weather data for Atlantic.

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315 AM CDT THU MAR 28 2013

TODAY...PARTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE LOWER 50S. SOUTHEAST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

TONIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOW IN THE LOWER 30S. EAST WIND NEAR 10 MPH.

FRIDAY…PARTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE UPPER 50S. SOUTHEAST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

FRIDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY THROUGH MIDNIGHT…THEN MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOW IN THE LOWER 40S. SOUTHEAST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 20 PERCENT.

SATURDAY…SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. HIGH IN THE MID 50S. SOUTH WIND 10 TO 15 MPH SHIFTING TO THE SOUTHWEST 5 TO 10 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 80 PERCENT.

SATURDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF LIGHT RAIN THROUGH MIDNIGHT. LOW IN THE MID 30S.

SUNDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY. HIGH IN THE LOWER 50S.

SUNDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF LIGHT RAIN AND SNOW. LOW IN THE UPPER 20S.

MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. COLDER. HIGH IN THE UPPER 30S. LOW IN THE LOWER 20S.