...1778... A great tide from a coastal storm overflowed Long beach Island, New Jersey. The water destroyed a salt works and drowned many cattle. The storm buffeted many ships at sea.
...1879... The temperature at Los Angeles, California climbed to 99 degrees, which is 3 degrees higher than any other March day had ever reached in the city.
...1886... Atlanta GA was drenched with a record 7.36 inches of rain in 24 hours.
...1920... Clear Spring MD received 31 inches of snow in 24 hours to establish a state record.
...1921... The temperature in Washington D.C. dropped from 82 degrees to 26 degrees thus ending an early spring.
...1923... At Newport, Rhode Island the temperature plummeted to 5 degrees, breaking the record of 21 degrees set in 1919. The 5 degrees was tied for the second lowest temperature for March at the station.
...1935... A severe dust storm blanketed Amarillo TX for 84 hours. During one six hour period the visibility was near zero. (28th-31st)
...1942... The "Palm Sunday Snowstorm" buried Baltimore, Maryland under 22 inches of snow in 24 hours. This was the heaviest 24 hour snowfall ever for the city for the month of March as well as the heaviest snow for so late in the season.
...1945... Providence Rhode Island hit 90 degrees to establish a March record for the New England area.
...1946... The high temperature peaked at 73 degrees at Newport, Rhode Island, breaking the record of 72 degrees from the year before (1945).
...1970... 5.4 inches of snow fell at Newport, Rhode Island, breaking the record of 2.1 inches set back in 1894.
...1984... A savage "Nor'easter" battered New England. The central pressure of the low dropped to 28.48 over the Atlantic east of New Jersey. Winds gusted to 108 mph at the Blue Hill Observatory in Milton, Massachusetts and to 97 mph at Martha's Vineyard. 8 to 16 inches of heavy wet snow fell in interior southern New England. 5.1 inches of snow fell in Newport, Rhode Island, the barometric pressure fell to 28.96 inches and the wind gusted to 52 miles per hour. Numerous thunderstorms also accompanied this spring blizzard. One thunderstorm produced a microburst at Southborough, Massachusetts which flattened about 5 acres of red pines -- a most unusual occurrence for a Nor'easter.
...1987... Thunderstorms spawned tornadoes in Mississippi, and produced high winds and heavy rain in Louisiana. Thunderstorm winds gusted to 92 mph at Houma LA, and caused a million dollars damage in Terrebonne Parish. Avondale LA was deluged with 4.52 inches of rain.
...1988... Severe thunderstorms in the Lower Mississippi Valley spawned a tornado which injured two persons at Bunkie LA, and produced high winds which down a large tree onto a trailer at Bastrop LA claiming the life of one child and injuring another.
...1989... Thunderstorms produced torrential rains in northeastern Texas and southwestern Arkansas. Longview TX reported 14.16 inches of rain. More than eleven inches of rain at Henderson TX caused a dam to give way, and people left stranded in trees had to be rescued by boat. Total damage in northeastern Texas was estimated at 10 to 16 million dollars.
...1990... The barometric pressure peaked at 30.74 inches at Newport, Rhode Island breaking the record of 30.50 inches set in 1982. Thunderstorms developing ahead of a cold front produced severe weather in southeastern Texas and southern Louisiana. Thunderstorms spawned seven tornadoes, including one which injured seven persons at Gray LA. Thunderstorms also produced golf ball size hail and wind gusts to 70 mph at Port O'Conner TX, and produced up to six inches of rain in Beauregard Parish LA.
...1992... A severe thunderstorm dumped .73 inches of rain in a little over an hour at the National Weather Service Office in San Antonio, Texas. This brought the march rainfall to 6.11 inches and this set a new monthly record for rainfall in March. The old record was 5.91 inches set back in 1921.
...1996... 2.9 inches of snow on this day at Newark, New Jersey brought its seasonal snowfall to 77.7 inches. This broke the old seasonal snowfall record of 75.2 inches that had stood for 128 years.
...1997... At Newport, Rhode Island 0.55 inches of rain fell in one hour, setting the record high for the date. The previous record was .0.35 inches set in 1964.
...2007... The relative humidity dropped to a dry 14% at Newport, Rhode Island, breaking the record of 16% set back in 1982.
...2011... A record 766 inches of snowfall at Boreal Ski Resort and nearly 59 feet at Squaw Valley in California's Sierra Nevadas are just two areas where snowfall records have been broken.