Wunderground.com-4/11/13, Christopher C. Burt

March was notable for unseasonable cold weather in Europe and record heat in parts of Africa and Australia. Heavy snowstorms struck the U.K., northern France, eastern Europe, Russia and the central U.S. and northeast. The world temperature extremes for both cold and heat came within 0.5°C (0.9°F) of reaching their respective March all-time records (from -75.6°C/-104.1°F) in Antarctica to South Africa (47.3°C/117.2°F).

Below are some of the month’s highlights.

NORTH AMERICA

Several significant snowstorms impacted the central and eastern portions of the U.S. during March. A slow moving and large low-pressure system raked the east coast on March 6-8 bringing high winds and a flooding storm surge to coastal Massachusetts. Wind gusts of 40 mph+ persisted for three consecutive days on Nantucket Island while heavy snow fell inland with a top accumulation of 29.8” (75.7 cm) storm total measured at Walpole. On March 24-25 heavy snow buried St. Louis, Missouri with a 12.7” (32.3 cm) accumulation, the city’s 7th greatest snowstorm on record. A bit further east, Springfield, Illinois picked up 18.5” (47.7 cm), its all-time greatest snowfall since records for such were established there in 1881.