\n<\/p>\n
March 16, 2026<\/p>\n
3 min read<\/p>\n
Add Us On Google<\/span>Add SciAm<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n What\u2019s with all the wild weather this week?<\/p>\n From blizzard conditions in the Midwest to a heat wave in the western U.S. to flooding in Hawaii, March has brought wild weather to the country<\/p>\n By Andrea Thompson edited by Claire Cameron<\/span><\/p>\n A low pressure system was bringing snow to the Midwest and stormy conditions to the eastern U.S. on Monday.<\/p>\n Torrential rains have brought flash floods to Hawaii. Parts of the upper Midwest are blanketed in more than two feet of snow, with flakes still falling. Hail, strong winds and tornadoes threaten the eastern U.S. And the West is in for record-shattering heat. Why is all the weather seemingly happening right now?<\/p>\n The short answer: it\u2019s March. Early spring is a transitional time of year weather-wise, as cold air from the north lingers even as warm, moist air pushes up from the south, leading to collisions over the contiguous U.S. that set up prime conditions for unsettled weather and blockbuster snowstorms. \u201cMarch and April are the time of year we get these clashes in air masses,\u201d says Brian Hurley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service\u2019s (NWS) Weather Prediction Center.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s dig into the details a little more, starting with the snow in the Midwest. A storm, or low-pressure system, developed over the area, with cold air coming down from Canada meeting moist air streaming up from the Gulf of Mexico. That means the storm \u201chas a lot of moisture to work with,\u201d Hurley says, so snowfall totals are high. The snow is also very wet compared to what typically falls there in January or February. This is fairly normal for March and April snows in the region, Hurley says. But because this storm is fairly strong, it is bringing blizzard conditions and snowfall rates of up to 3 to 4 inches of per hour in some places. Certain spots could see record-setting snowfalls for this time of year.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n Next up, the low-pressure system has a feature associated with it that in meteorology speak is called a QLCS, or quasi-linear convective system. Basically, this means a long, wavy line of thunderstorms\u2014which can be seen trailing down from the low-pressure area in classic comma shape on weather maps. The waves happen when \u201cwinds are gusting out faster\u201d ahead of the main line, Hurley says, looking like the string of bow pulled taut. The wind happens because of large pressure differences, and in this case could gust up to 60 to 70 miles per hour in parts of the mid-Atlantic on Monday. Abundant moisture makes for an unstable atmosphere that will cause thunderstorms to develop and, along with the strong winds, could create tornadoes.<\/p>\n A city worker closes a sidewalk after strong winds toppled a tree onto a house on March 15, 2026, in Bloomington, Ind.<\/p>\n Jeremy Hogan\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Now, let\u2019s move westward. Upstream of a low-pressure area, you\u2019ll find a high pressure one, which is exactly what is set to settle and strengthen over the Southwest this week. That will usher in a major heatwave that is expected to send temperatures soaring well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in some places. This also happens in the summer and is often called a heat dome\u2014temperatures won\u2019t get as high as they would if this was, say, July, \u201cbut are very warm compared to what it should be,\u201d Hurley says. The heat wave could set all-time March records unusually early in the month.<\/p>\n Moving westward and further upstream again, on the other side of the high-pressure system is another low-pressure area. This one, called a \u201cKona low,\u201d brings southerly winds \u201cthat draw a lot of deep moisture up over the islands,\u201d says Thomas Vaughan, a meteorologist with the NWS office in Honolulu. The islands typically see a few of these systems a year, he says, but this one was intense. Several places saw rainfall totals of 15 or more inches over five days, which led to flash flooding and mudslides. Those rains \u201cfar surpassed normal rainfall values for the entire month of March,\u201d Vaughan says. Further rain is expected this week, although not on the same scale, he adds.<\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. Scientific American<\/span> has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been a Scientific American<\/span> subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm <\/span>always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.<\/p>\n If you subscribe to Scientific American<\/span>, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.<\/p>\n In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world’s best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.<\/p>\n There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you\u2019ll support us in that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" March 16, 2026 3 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm What\u2019s with all the wild weather this week? From blizzard conditions in the Midwest to a heat wave in the western U.S. to flooding in Hawaii, March has brought wild weather to the country By Andrea Thompson edited by Claire Cameron A low pressure<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[23834,2968,104,1033,23835,811,4338,365],"class_list":{"0":"post-46879","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-blizzards","9":"tag-floods","10":"tag-heat","11":"tag-hitting","12":"tag-tornados","13":"tag-u-s","14":"tag-waves","15":"tag-week"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46879\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/46880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}On supporting science journalism<\/h2>\n
It\u2019s Time to Stand Up for Science<\/h2>\n