Lingering late winter and early spring cold fronts kept March 2003 cooler than normal over the eastern parts of South Central Texas; however, over western parts of the area, the shallow cool air modified rapidly, as more sunshine in the day warmed afternoons enough to increase the average March temperature to near and above normal. After a wet February, March 2003 ended up drier than normal over South Central Texas.

The cloudy conditions that ended February carried over to the first 2 days of March 2003. On Monday the 3rd, an area of showers and thunderstorms swept across the region in the early to late morning hours, replaced by partly cloudy skies in the afternoon. By March 6th to the 13th a warming trend followed. On March 13th, afternoon highs warmed up to around 80 to the 80s ahead of a fast moving cold front. Thunderstorms formed on the cold front in the late afternoon over parts of Kinney and Val Verde County. One thunderstorm caused golfball size hail near Brackettville. Slightly cooler conditions followed the 14th.

On the weekend of the 15th and 16th, clouds began to increase, ahead of a rapidly moving weather system. This weather system came through the area in the morning hours of Tuesday, March 18th, bringing an area of showers and thunderstorms from parts of Val Verde and Edwards County to parts of Bandera, Kerr, Gillespie, Llano and Burnet Counties around 2 to 3 AM. Some of the thunderstorms produced 0.75 inch hail in Llano County in the pre dawn hours. The showers and thunderstorms moved east affecting the Ausitn and San Antonio areas around and after sunrise. Skies cleared up in the afternoon of the Tuesday the 18th. Another surge of dry air, with a weather system aloft, swept across Central and South Central Texas Wednesday, March 19th, bringing strong west winds, that gusted to near 30 to 45 mph.

Spring began on Thursday, March 20th at 700 PM CST. Although warmer weather comes in March and April, there have been periods of cold or cool outbreaks in March and April during the past. See History of Late March and April Cold Outbreaks. Even as spring begins, there have been extremes that showed up over the region in the past. Go To Early Spring Extreme Weather Events The first spring rain making weather system for 2003 affected the area Saturday the 22nd, with showers and thunderstorms. Mostly clear skies followed Sunday the 23rd, as afternoon highs rose the lower 80s over western parts of South Central Texas to 70s across the eastern part of the area.

The week of Monday the 24th to Friday the 28th, brought a severe weather event that broke out in the mid to late afternoon, Tuesday the 25th. Showers and thunderstorms formed on a cold front, and moved south and southeast. Some of the thunderstorms became severe and an F0 Tornado occurred 2 miles south of Comfort. Large hail accompanied some of the thunderstorms, and some of the severe reports are referenced by The Preliminary Local Storm Report For March 25th. Strong damaging winds accompanied the thunderstorms near Comfort and also the thunderstorms over parts of Dimmit and Zavala Counties. Skies cleared in the night and pre dawn hours of the 25th/26th, with sunny conditions and calm weather during the day of Wednesday the 26th.

The month from the 27th to 30th witnessed more extremes in temperature. Nearly summer like conditions on Thursday the 27th were replaced by cooler days the 28th to the 30th. Afternoon highs the 27th made it to the 90s over west parts of South Central Texas to 80s over eastern parts of the area. A strong late March cold front followed the night of the 27th and early morning of the 28th, bringing windy and cooler conditions. Compared to the 27th, daytime highs were 20 to 30 degrees cooler on Friday the 28th. The cold air kept filtering over the area on Saturday the 29th. Under mostly clear skies, temperatures fell to at and below freezing in the early morning of Sunday, March 30th. Record lows for March 30th of 31 was observed at Del Rio and Austin Bergstrom International Airport. The lows of 37 at Austin Mabry and 30 at San Antonio International Airport were not  record lows for March 30th. Under clear skies afternoon highs on Sunday March 30th warmed up to the upper 60s to near 70.

Unlike the cloudy skies in the beginning of March, March 2003 ended with clear and pleasant weather. Under clear skies with abundant sunshine, afternoon highs on the 31st rose to into the 70s, with near 80 in the Del Rio area.

The latest 30 day outlook for April 2003 from the National Center of Environmental Prediction calls for the Average Temperature to be below normal for most of South Central Texas, except near normal over the extreme western sections near Del Rio. The 30 day outlook calls for Precipitation to be near Normal over Central and South Central Texas. The latest 3 Month or 90 Day Outlook for March 2003 to May 2003 calls for below Normal Temperatures and Above Normal Precipitation over Central and South Central Texas. These latest 30 day and 90 day Outlooks were issued on Wednesday, March 19, 2002, from the National Center of Environmental Prediction. To see the latest 30 and 90 day Monthly/Seasonal Outlooks Go to the Latest 30 and 90 Day Monthly/Seasonal Forecast from the National Center of Environmental Prediction.