January was mild and wet with an abundance of clouds but only 18 inches of snow. The average monthly temperature in Syracuse was 30 degrees, more than 5 degrees warmer than normal. Readings ranged from 7 on January 7th to 46 on January 26th. The month was punctuated by one week of colder-than-normal temperatures from January 15 - 21. Skies were cloudy on 27 of 31 January days. Rain and melted snow came in at 4.20 inches, about 1.6 inches more than usual. The season's snowfall total climbed to a paltry 28 inches which is far below the 76" of snow typically measured here in the Syracuse area by the end of January. A major lake-effect snow event hammered the Buffalo and Watertown areas on Friday January 12 and Saturday January 13. The Bills had to postpone their playoff game on that Saturday due to the 18" of snow and accompanying strong winds and brutal wind chills. Buffalo recorded 46" of snow for the month. A peak wind gust of 46 mph was recorded at the Syracuse airport on January 14. January 2024 marks a second consecutive January with relatively mild temperatures and minimal snowfall. The Winter of 2023/2024 has been about 16% milder than normal thus far.
February, 2024
February 2024 will go into the books as the region's warmest month of February since record keeping began here in Syracuse in 1902. The average monthly temperature was 34.5 degrees, 9 degrees warmer than normal! Readings ranged from 7 degrees on February 20 (our coldest night of the winter) to a record smashing 71 degrees a week later on February 27. High temperatures climbed to freezing or above on 24 of 29 February days. A pair of strong cold fronts produced 58 and 55 mph wind gusts on February 16 and 28 respectively. Readings plunged from 71 to 20 over a two-day period in association with the second cold front. The monthly snowfall total was 17.1 inches. Typical February snowfall for the Syracuse area is 30 inches. The 10 inches of snow that fell on February 29 represents the largest single-day snowfall for the area in six years. The season's snowfall total edged up to 45.6 inches. Typical seasonal snowfall by the end of February is 105 inches. February was rather dry with 1.39 inches of rain and melted snow reported (-1.07"). The meteorological winter of December 2023 through February 24 was also the area's warmest with an overall average temperature of 34 degrees, more than 7 degrees warmer than normal. We used 20% less energy to heat our homes this winter.
March, 2024
March was another mild month for the region with more record temperatures. Readings climbed to a record 72 on March 13. For the month, the average temperature was 41, a little more than 7 degrees warmer than normal. Readings ranged from 72 on March 13 to 10 on March 24. The month was unsettled and windy at times. We picked up 3.47" of rain and melted snow and a total of 21" of snow. The season's snowfall climbed to 61 inches, the 5th least snowy winter (to this point) since records began back in 1902. We had an 8" snowstorm on March 22 and 23.
Records for the month: Record high temperature of 72 degrees on March 13.
