Utah in March

[billybob6342]

Hello,

Some friends and I are planning a backpacking trip over spring break (March 16-20) and were thinking about either Zion or Canyonlands. However, we are not finding any solid info about how the weather will be. Everything we have read seems to indicate that it could vary wildly from snowy to sunny and 60's. We understand that the night time lows can be down in the 30's, but we can deal with that as long as the weather is nice for hiking during the day.

We are wondering if anyone from the area or who has been there during March has any info to point us in the right direction.

Thanks!

 

[Nick]

It is really unpredictable. Could be even warmer than that. Just plan your trip and if possible, have a bit of wiggle room. It's just as unpredictable no matter where in the region you go. The lower in elevation, the warmer, usually.

 

[Laura]

That's what March is like in Southern Utah, you can get anything. Best thing is to check the forecast a week in advance or so and go from there.

 

[Nick]

Here's a handful of my March trip reports. Some with wildly different conditions.

Snow killed this trip half way through:
http://backcountrypost.com/threads/bullseye-ruin-and-ballroom-cave-cedar-mesa.589/

Really warm and nice on this one:
http://backcountrypost.com/threads/llewellyn-gulch-escalante.1954/

Super warm with ice bridges over the Escalante in this one:
http://backcountrypost.com/threads/willow-gulch-escalante-river-gorge.582/

Mostly nice with one windy night in this one:
http://backcountrypost.com/threads/moonshine-wash-and-colonnade-arch.393/

Perfection the first weekend of March in this one:
http://backcountrypost.com/threads/wingate-wandering.2904/

So yeah. Unpredictable, but still pretty fun. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[Ben]

in a five day trip at the end of march last year in zion we saw nice days, cold days, and one day that it rained, snowed, and hailed on us.

 

[Henk]

Was just looking through these pages this morning for the sake of our own spring holiday.

Ben have a look at:
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cag/ and choose min, max, avg temperature or precipitation etc. than press plot.
You will get a nice graphs that show that it get's warmer and dryer every year, it's a trend of course no guarantee!

A general longer term forecast (for wat it is worth) is here:
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/produc...ason/13_seasonal_outlooks/color/churchill.php
The forecast is a wetter winter and spring than average and also slightly higher temperatures than average for the Southwest.

It doesn't get any better than "good luck" to both of us!

 

[wes242]

March 20th a few years back, after hiking in the rain we decided to leave the Needles District a couple days early. As we hiked to our car over elephant hill we were met with a blizzard. I used to always plan a trip around this time, but the past 5 years it seems to be cold that week, I bet cause its my birthday and I just want to get outside. So now I just plan later.