After a mild February and March, who would have thought winter would make a comeback and give us snow on the first official day of spring? Mother Nature has been very bipolar lately, but she's keeping me plenty busy.
I have said time and time again this winter not to underestimate March and this is exactly why. The last few March’s have given us a surprising amount of snow for a month that only averages about an inch.
While I am not expecting a major snowstorm, many will likely be surprised by the snow and the intensity of the snow. The current thinking is rain begins to move in late on Saturday, but by early Sunday morning, rain transitions to snow from the northwest to the southeast. How far south and east of town the snow gets remains to be seen. Residents in Bristow and the surrounding area should expect grassy surfaces to become snow-covered with up to an inch of accumulation possible. Roads are expected to be just wet.
In terms of accumulation, I am expecting to see distorted accumulations. What I mean by that is this storm has the potential to drop half a foot of snow, but because of the high March sun and the fact that it will technically be spring by Sunday, the snow will have a hard time accumulating even on grassy surfaces. However, if we see a heavy burst of snow, you could temporarily accumulate a few inches, but those few inches could melt even before the snow ends.
With all that said, I expect this to be a conversational snow. One thing we do know is school will go on as planned Monday as late-March snows struggle to accumulate on roads due to the higher sun angle. Keep in mind, the March sun is equivalent to a late-summer sun in September.
Stay tuned as we continue to track this potential late season snow.
My favorite thing to do is study the weather. It is truly fascinating. Nothing beats a good thunderstorm. I became very interested in weather when I lived in Okinawa, Japan for four years and was actually inside a super typhoon.
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