Does Winter Have 1 Final Big March Surprise for Missouri?

If you are as anxious for real Spring to begin like I am, you are no doubt pleased with the extraordinary warm temperatures Missouri is starting to experience this week, but there are indications that winter just might be planning one final surprise for March.

First of all, you'll be pleased to know that I have no computer models to threaten you with today. While I'm watching some interesting developments for the time period between March 5 and March 9, there's nothing concrete to indicate that Missouri will have an imminent snow event to deal with - yet.

Instead of looking at incoming computer models to see if Missouri has a winter storm in its future, I decided to look at what's happened in the past thanks to some data from the National Weather Service in St. Louis. Here are the times in recent years when Missouri got slammed by a surprise March winter storm:

• March 2, 2002 - Central and northeast Missouri received a half-inch of sleet and then 6 inches of snow followed by 20 to 30mph winds to cause huge drifts
• March 4, 2003 - Quarter inch of ice impacts Missouri and then up to 8 inches of snow falls on top of it
• March 4, 2008 - St. Louis, Missouri area pounded with up to a foot of snow in places
• March 5, 1960 - St. Louis and Columbia, Missouri experience unprecedented cold with lows recorded of -5 and -8
• March 8, 1999 - Clark and Lewis County, Missouri see a late-season snowstorm and unexpectedly get up to 8 inches of snow
• March 11, 2000 - Central and east-central Missouri wake up to a surprise snow event that blankets the state in up to 10 inches of snow
• March 13, 1937 - Columbia, Missouri receives 12.8 inches of snow totaling the 6th biggest snowfall in a 24-hour period in the state's history.
• March 20, 2006 - Northeast Missouri gets an unexpected dump of 6 to 9 inches of snow
• March 24, 1912 - St. Louis gets a total of 12.1 inches of snow
• March 30, 1890 - St. Louis, Missouri gets an unprecedented record-setting 20.4 inches of snow starting on the 30th and ending on the 31st

If history tells us anything, it's that Missouri in March can be a very dangerous place. Some of the worst snowfalls and tornadoes have happened during that month. Does that mean our upcoming March in Missouri will be terrifying? I sure hope not, but best to be prepared as surprises are what March does best in this part of America.