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Does Quiet February Mean Snowy March? Here's What History Tells Us

After near-record lows of snowfall so far in February, should we expect to see more next month?

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Meteorological winter may end once March arrives, but if you live in New England long enough you know the snow rarely stops there. The 1997 April Fools' Day blizzard is the poster child for that.

After such an easy winter around Boston, many people are wondering if there is still time for us to be walloped by a wintry blast.

We can use the past to give us some insight.

So far this year, Boston has picked up 15.1 inches of snow. Just 3.6 inches of that have fallen in January and February.

Let’s look at similarly snowless winters to see what the following March brought.

In the winter of 2006-07, Boston picked up just 6.4 inches of snow through February. In March that season, 10.2 inches of snow fell.

During the winter of 1936-37, 7.1 inches fell in Boston through February, with just 1.9 inches then coming in March.

In 2011-12, the seasonal total through February was 8.7 inches, with a measly 0.6 inches in the March that followed.

The season of 1979-80 brought 8.9 inches to the city through February, with 3.6 inches in March.

Finally, the 1972-73 season tallied 10 inches through the end of February. Just 0.3 inches fell later that March.

If you boil that down, it means that even after a fairly snowless winter in Boston, it almost always snows in March. It’s often below the average March snowfall of 7.6 inches, but it is snow nonetheless.

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