Pennsylvania Weather Review: March 2026
Pennsylvania Weather Review: March 2026
Coming off a colder than average winter, March brought many ups & downs along with snow and storms, typical of early spring. March also brought some much needed drought relief. Read on for the full details!
March Highlights
Freezing rain fell in parts of central and eastern Pennsylvania on the morning of the 3rd. The icy conditions didn't last long as the higher sun angle quickly warmed up the untreated surfaces. This was followed with more rain on the 4th through 6th with over an inch falling over most of the state. Temperatures also rose to the 70s in western Pennsylvania on the 6th.
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| 72 hour precipitation totals ending 9am on March 6, 2026. Source. |
A large temperature gradient was observed in central Pennsylvania on the 6th and 7th dividing temperatures between a chilly eastern Pennsylvania and a warm western Pennsylvania. The high of 78° in Pittsburgh was the 3rd earliest 78°+ on record. A Tornado Watch was issued for western Pennsylvania on the 7th, the earliest in the state since 2016. While no tornado touched down, there were plenty of wind reports of trees & wires down.
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| High temperatures for the 24 hour period ending at 7am on March 7, 2026 and March 8, 2026. Source. |
The warmth finally spread into eastern Pennsylvania on the 8th with highs in the 60s & low 70s, 20° to 30° warmer than the day before. The warmth continued on the 9th and 10th with highs in the low 80s in parts of southeast Pennsylvania on the 10th. This was the 2nd earliest 80° day for Harrisburg and 3rd earliest for Allentown and Philadelphia. The temperature in Philadelphia rose 36° between 8am and 2pm, tied for the 3rd largest 6 hour temperature rise on record.
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| Chart summarizing the record high temperatures for March 10th. |
Rounds of severe storms rolled across southern Pennsylvania on the 11th with isolated hail and damaging wind. This also brought more beneficial rain with isolated totals over 1.50" to the south and west. Behind this system, temperatures on the afternoon of the 12th were as much as 40° colder compared to 24 hours earlier.
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| 24 hour temperature change at 10z on March 12, 2026. Source. |
A high impact wind event on the evening of the 13th knocked power out to over 320,000 customers in western Pennsylvania. DuBois recorded 2 wind gusts of 75mph and a gust of 66mph at Pittsburgh was the 4th highest non-thunderstorm gust on record. The wind knocked down power lines resulting in numerous brush fires enhanced by a combination of the wind and very low relative humidity.
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| Highest wind gusts from March 13-14, 2026. |
Another strong cold front pushed across the state on the 16th with a strong temperature gradient. Thunderstorm wind damage was widespread across southeastern Pennsylvania with a wind gust of 68mph in Reading. On the backside, temperatures plummeted with 2" to 4" of snow falling in western Pennsylvania. The Pittsburgh Airport recorded 6.3" after a high of 60°. There were reports of thundersnow, too.
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| Watches, Warnings, and Advisories from 12:10pm on March 16, 2026. |
A round of non-severe thunderstorms rolled through southwestern Pennsylvania late on March 20th. Temperatures surged on the 22nd with high temperatures in the 70s and low 80s across southern Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh hit 84°, tying the record warmest temperature for the month of March. 83° in Altoona was the 3rd warmest March temperature and earliest temperature of 82°+ by 6 days. Severe storms rolled through portions of western and central Pennsylvania late in the day. Hail of 1.00" to 1.75" was reported along with wind damage.
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| 12 hour precipitation totals ending 7am on March 27, 2026. Source. |
The 26th brought some more storms but most were not severe. Most notably, though, heavy rain fell across southwestern Pennsylvania where 1.50"-2.00"+ fell. Many low lying spots were flooded flooding fields and closing some roads. With 2.10" inches falling in Pittsburgh across the 26th and 27th, March 2026 ranks as the wettest March on record.
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| Webcam views of a thunderstorm in Erie on the evening of March 31, 2026. Link. |
Temperatures once again dipped below average on the 27th and 28th but rebounded to well above average for the last 2 days of the month. The busy month didn't stop with one more round of storms and heavy rain on the last day of the month once again in western Pennsylvania. Plenty of wind damage was reported in northwestern Pennsylvania along with some flash flooding.
March Statistics
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| Temperature and precipitation summary for March 2026. |
March 2026 was very warm statewide, a change from recent months. It was a top 10 warmest March for Altoona, Bradford, & Philadelphia. It was a top 20 warmest March for all locations. Much needed precipitation was observed especially for Pittsburgh where it was the wettest March on record. For most locations March 2026 ranked as a top 25 wettest but Philadelphia was an outlier where it ranked as the 16th driest!
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| Map of all Severe Thunderstorm Warnings during the month of March 2026. Source. |
The severe season got off to a busy start in March. 6 days featured a Slight or Enhanced Convective Outlook in Pennsylvania. A March record of 99 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were issued across 7 days blowing past the previous record of 66 in March 2022. The average number of Severe Thunderstorm Warnings for March (1986-2025) is 7. In total, there were 115 wind damage storm reports and 18 hail reports.
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| Drought Monitor for Pennsylvania as of March 31st (left) and the 4 week Drought Classification Change (right). Source. |
The abundant rounds of precipitation brought great drought improvement across Pennsylvania during the month of March. Portions of south central and southeast Pennsylvania were the driest spots during March and are the same places where the drought remains. More than half of Pennsylvania (52%) is now drought free, up from 16% at the start of the month!
Webcam Image of the Month
This Harrisburg webcam captured a picturesque supercell that moved just to the north of the city on the afternoon of March 11th. The storm was Tornado Warned at the time this image was taken.
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| Webcam image of a supercell thunderstorm with the Pennsylvania State Capitol in the foreground. Source. |
Wrapping Up & Looking Ahead
Whew. I thought March would be a quiet month but even when it was 'calm' there was plenty of noteworthy weather statistics to cover. Hopefully the busy start to the severe season is not a precursor of what is to come.
I have been going hard on the blog posts so far this year, I will be slowing down in the near future. While I have no future blog posts scheduled, I have some ideas that are in the works. If you did not get a chance to do so, make sure to check out the last two blog posts that looked back at the Saint Patrick's Day Flood of 1936. Part 1 can be found here, and part 2 is here.
As always, remember to look up!
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