Harry

In interviews that appeared in the Ragister (April 1) and Radio Iowa (April 2), State climatologist Harry Hillaker is reported to have said this about last month's weather --

March 2013 was the coldest March in Iowa since 1975 and the 17th coldest in history.

And

we have to go back all the way to 1984 to find a colder March, and possibly further back once all the data comes in.

As for temperatures -- In March, temperatures were roughly 22 degrees cooler every day than they were last March, Hillaker said. But that didn’t break any records, falling only 6 degrees below the monthly average.

And

“Preliminarily, temperatures averaging about seven degrees colder than usual,” Hillaker says.

Snowfall for March -- “Actually, the snowiest March since 1998 — the state average was about 9.8-inches.

The National Weather Service has it at 9.6 inches.

Close enough for government work and the scientific community is united in that fact.