THE WEATHER AND CIRCULATION OF MARCH 1964 Floods Followed by Extreme Cold

• Main Author: Julian W. Posey
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arctic; Alabama
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.395.2503; http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/mwr/092/mwr-092-06-0333.pdf

The most significant weather events of March in the United States were heavy rain in the Ohio Valley and southwiird during the first half of the month and an intense outbreak of Arctic air into the Plains States late in the month. Monthly rainfall records were broken for much of soutliwestern and centrtd Ohio by mid-month. Resulting floods were near record severity in the southern half of Ohio. Floods also occurred in Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi. Associated with the southwd plunge of Arctic air in the latter part of the month was a late-season snowstoriii that dropped up to 9 in. of snow in the Chicago area on March 29. This storm moved eastward, leaving snow over the Great Lakes Region, the upper Ohio Valley, parts of Pennsylvnnia, and netirby areas. Dulles Airport, near Washington, D.C., received 5 in. on March 30. Although the Arctic air ol the final week wiirriied considcriibly as it moved southeastward, the peach belt of the Southe:ist still suffered extensive damage from freezing teniper:itures. Damage was very heavy in the Carolinas, “with North Cnrolina’s crop virtually a coiiiplete loss ” [I]. Other States in which the peach crop was damaged by the