Expect snow, warmer temperatures in March

Colorado Springs will have warmer temperatures this month, but keep your winter coats and mittens out. You might need them to hunt for those Easter eggs.

March is typically the snowiest month of the year, with the city receiving an average 9.4 inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service. A La Niña weather pattern — a cooling of the sea surface waters — continues across the Pacific Basin, meaning Colorado will most likely have average precipitation for the month.

That could be welcome change: In February we saw only 2.7 inches of the white stuff, well below the average of 5.1 inches, according to the weather service.

The snowiest March day on record was in 1998, when 15 inches fell on the 18th.

And there could be snow on Easter. The holiday usually falls in April, but this year, it’s March 23. In 1980, 3.1 inches of fresh powder fell on that day.

But don’t expect the snow to remain on the ground for long. The weather service says La Niña will push up temperatures for most of the Western United States.

Average highs in Colorado Springs in the beginning of March start in the upper-40s. They increase to the mid-50s by month’s end.

The warmest March temperature on record was 81 degrees on March 26, 1971. The only other time the thermometer surpassed the 70s was on March 28, 1963, when it was 80 degrees. The coldest temperature on record was minus 16 degrees on March 2, 1943.