Warm and slightly wet March ends with a bang with wild weather continuing into April
The last day of March ended with a bang, literally, with about half dozen severe thunderstorm warning for southeast Wisconsin. Most of the warnings were borderline severe with much more hail reported up near Green Bay. Parts of Sheboygan County did report some hail, even up to the size of golf balls during storms in the late morning.
The strong storm chance ended with a line of storms that moved from NW to SE across the entire viewing area leaving us dry by 5 PM. Some locations saw brief heavy rain with the storms. Officially in Milwaukee the rain pushed our monthly March precipitation total to just over 3" which is was above average for the month of March. It wasn't too impressive for March rankings coming in as the 57th wettest on record.
We didn't have much snow in the last two weeks of March but the beginning of the month was a bit wintry. Snowfall for the entire month totaled 5.2" which was an inch and a half above average and goes down tied for the 52nd most snowy March on record.
March did have a few chilly days, but overall the month was pretty mild. The average temperature of 39.6 degrees for the month was over three degrees above average and it goes into the rankings tied for the 15th warmest March on record.
The warmest temperature in March was 73 which we hit twice including just a few days ago on March 30th. The coldest low was 10 set on St. Patrick's Day.
April is another spring month that can featured wild weather. We can still get some snow and the month even averages 2.1" of snow. But we also get a lot of rain with total precipitation of just under 4". The average highs go from 40 to 60 by the end of April and the average lows go from near freezing today to the low 40s by the end of the month.
This year the start to April stays wild. This Wednesday, April 1st, will be chilly with temps in the 30s all day then a chance for some wintry mix Wednesday night. Some northern counties could even see a little wintry mix and a glaze of ice. Watch for slick spots if out driving north of I-94 Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
Then our focus shifts to strong to severe storms during the day on Thursday. Scattered storms and heavy rain will be possible most of the day. The best chance for strong to severe storms is in the afternoon and evening. Any dry time or sunshine we have in the morning or early afternoon would increase our severe potential. All of southeast Wisconsin is under a Level 2 Slight Risk for severe storms.
Download the CBS 58 Weather app to track the wintry mix and storms for the first few days of the month.