March not looking all that cold in eastern North America

Signs continue to point toward a slightly warmer-than-normal March across a large portion of eastern North America, while below-normal temperatures may dominate in the West.

The reason for this will likely be a persistent trough from northwestern Canada to the western third of the lower 48 states.

However, we are not talking about any sustained period of bitter cold, as the bulk of the Arctic air will be hanging out from the Yukon Territory on over into Siberia.

This pattern does favor a moist, southwesterly flow of air that will likely be directed toward the Great Lakes, eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, which is likely to result in a wetter pattern with near-normal high temperatures and above-normal low temperatures.

Despite the lack of real cold, there will still be more opportunities for accumulating snowfall in March throughout eastern Canada and the interior northeastern U.S., including the Midwest/Great Lakes.