Reggie Smith (MBA ’20) tells us what to expect this month.
March is one of the craziest months of the year. It can be cold and snowy, or warm and spring-like, or a mix of both. Typically, the first half of March is a continuation of winter, with the second half showing signs of spring. I don’t see anything different happening this March. Expect bouts of cold to continue through March—with some chances for snow, especially in early March. One caveat here: everything moderates as we march through March (pun intended). In other words, the cold shots get less intense (30s F instead of 20s F).
February was a horrible month for winter lovers. We will end the month about 6 degrees F above normal on average and with ONLY 0.5 inches of snow officially in Boston. Normal snowfall is closer to 13 inches. While this pesky warm pattern should not be as strong as we head into March, don’t be surprised to see some early 70s at the end of the month.
March is showing signs of a pattern that will feature normal temperatures. In other words, the blowtorch is over. However, it doesn’t look like it will be epically cold. So, expect the normal oscillation between cold and warm weather, with the occasional snow and rain storms. I think we will end up with above-normal snowfall for the month to make up for the February snow drought. The weather has a way of seeking an equilibrium.
Finally, a huge congratulations to Chuck Nadd (MBA ’21, Section F) for winning the HBS Snowfall Challenge! His guess was only two days off the official first snow in Boston.
Reggie Smith (MBA ’20) grew up in Philadelphia and has studied the weather for over 17 years. He was the Meteorologist for the Spirit News serving over 100,000 people in the city. Prior to HBS he worked at Johnson Controls (JCI), where he developed large energy conservation and solar projects. Most recently, he led the development engineering for an energy storage start-up business within JCI. He spent the summer of 2019 at Marathon Capital and Eventide Asset Management doing investment banking in clean energy and investing in clean energy-related companies, respectively. Reggie graduated summa cum laude with a B.S./M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Drexel University.