Nebraska leads nation in windy conditions

“In like a lion and out like a lamb.” Or “In like a lamb and out like a lion.” Those adages are not the only weather ones for March. There is also “A dry March and a wet May; fill barn and bays with corn and hay.” Plus, “As it rains in March, so it rains in June.” And finally, “March winds and April showers, bring forth May flowers.

We can expect windy days in March. March and April are historically the windiest months in Kansas. Dodge City is the third windiest place in the United States behind only Mount Washington, New Hampshire and Blue Hill, Maryland. It is considered the windiest “city” in the U.S. Kansas is the second windiest state in the nation with Nebraska being the windiest.

So, if March winds bring April showers, then shouldn’t we always have a wet April? But historically, May, June and July are our wettest months. If it rains in June like in March, and June is one of our wettest months, wouldn’t March also be a wet month? It all seems confusing. Then there are those lions and lambs.

The month of March 2022, “came in like a lamb” with days of spring-like warmth. What will follow? Will March “go out like a lion” as the old adage forecasts?

There have been some significant late March snow storms and blizzards in Kansas. There was the March 23 to 25, 1957 blizzard which dumped up to 25 inches of snow in southwestern Kansas. It was a true blizzard with 44 consecutive hours of snow and blowing snow recorded in Dodge City.

Thirty years later, in 1987, two March “lions” roared and the western portion of Kansas was hit with back-to-back blizzards on the 29th and 30th. Four hundred, fifty miles of interstate in Kansas and Colorado were closed. Massive airlifts of hay were organized by the National Guard to feed the cattle stranded by the drifts.

Places received up to 25 inches of snow. Superior recorded 16 inches. A dispatcher in Norton told of 12-foot-high drifts. The National Guard found 18-foot drifts in western Kansas.

A lasting effect of this storm are the gates that now close the interstate highway system. During the 1987 storms, travelers ignored the media announcements that the roads were closed. Drivers proceeded and many were stranded. Rescuing them took time, manpower and machines away from clearing roads. Now gates close the interstate highway system.

Kansas was again hit by a late March blizzard in 2009. On the 27th and the 28th a storm, which had already dropped record breaking snow falls in Oklahoma, swept through Kansas on its way to dump more snow in Michigan.

Time will tell if March 2022 ends with warm temperatures or cold ones. And speaking of time, March is when we “Spring Forward” one hour. Remember to turn your clocks forward one hour at 2 a.m., on Sunday, March 13. At least in this writing, Time and temperature go together.