March outlook shows cold start, more rain

As we wrap up the month of February, we've had some major variations with temperatures and it looks like that trend could continue to through March.

A blast of arctic air will push into the country during the first week of the month dropping our highs to the 30s and the 40s. If you don't like the cold, it looks like the cold blast won't stick around all month.

The latest outlook from the Climate Prediction Center indicates we'll see average temperatures for the entire month. That likely means we'll see highs and lows warming closer to average and maybe even higher for the month of March.

As far as rain, the pattern is trending fairly wet. The latest pattern is hinting at above average rainfall for March. The average rain for the month is 3.27 inches.

Could that rain lead to snow? The answer isn't great for snow lovers.

Our best chance for snow will be the first week of March as the cold blast moves across the country.

The latest models continue to show mainly rain early next week instead of snow. However, March snow is uncommon.

North Carolina's average snowfall for the month is about 0.5 inches. Last year we picked up over an inch of snow at RDU.