Talk about March Madness. Instead of getting snow, New Jersey was saturated with rain — one storm after another during recent weeks. All added up, this has been the wettest March on record in the Atlantic City area, the fifth wettest March ever recorded in the Newark region and the sixth wettest in the Trenton area.
Preliminary data from the National Weather Service shows 9.79 inches of rain fell during the first 28 days of March at Atlantic City International Airport, topping the old March rainfall record of 9.25 inches, measured in 1994.
Atlantic City’s rainfall total this month is more than twice as high as its normal average for March.
About 120 miles farther north at Newark Liberty International Airport, 7.98 inches of rain has been measured so far this month, compared to the normal March total of 4.13 inches. At Trenton Mercer Airport in Ewing, 7.57 inches of rain has been reported this month, compared to the full March average of 4 inches.
All the rain we've gotten during the past few weeks has turned this month into the wettest March on record in the Atlantic City area and the fifth wettest March in the Newark area.Len Melisurgo | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
While New Jersey normally gets between 2 and 6 inches of snow in March, this month has been a total dud in that category. Weather service stats show only a trace of snow — flurries that don’t even accumulate to a tenth of an inch on the ground — has been reported in Newark, Trenton and Atlantic City.
All of the precipitation totals this month have been strictly from rain.
For people fed up with all the soggy weather, forecasters have some bad news.
April will be getting off to a stormy start in New Jersey, because the wet weather pattern is expected to linger. Although Easter weekend is shaping up nicely with only spotty showers possible Saturday afternoon or Saturday night, more substantial rain is expected to return Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday because of a storm system that will be forming in the Central Plains and moving across the eastern U.S.
Forecasters say some of the rain in the middle of next week could be on the heavy side, and they can’t rule out some thunderstorms that could bring periods of drenching downpours.
One bright spot is on the horizon. Sunshine and dry weather should return next Thursday. That’s the forecast, at least for now.
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Stories by Len Melisurgo
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Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com or on X at @LensReality.