Mariton – March Precipitation

We had a wet March at Mariton:  7.13 inches of precipitation.  (The average is 4.41 inches.)  There were two big rain events at the beginning of the month, and measurable precipitation every few days throughout the month.  The two big rains, combined with snow melt, caused the Delaware River to leave its banks.  While the flooding was limited, the damage to the Delaware Canal State Park was bad in many places.  (Photo by Carole Mebus.)

Interestingly, in 2010 we received 7.45 inches during the same period.  When you put the data from the two years side by side, they are quite similar in the amounts of rainfall and timing during the month.  The big difference was that in 2010 there was no measurable snow during March.  (There was also no snow pack to cause Delaware flooding from the big rains in 2010.)

We received 3" of snow this March, mostly in mix-precipitation events, and it melted quickly.  We didn't have any big snow storms.  (Do you remember March 12, 1993, or Easter Monday 1997?)

For the year, we are about 3 inches above normal for precipitation.