March 2 usually includes precipitation, but not this year

If there's one day of the year when you might want to consider carrying an umbrella in Salt Lake City, odds are it's March 2. That date is by far the most likely day for moisture.

KSL meteorologist Dan Pope said the odds are just over 50 percent that it will rain or snow on that day at the Salt Lake International Airport. In fact, no other day of the year statistically has a chance for moisture that is 50 percent or more.

The Salt Lake Office of the National Weather Service also predicts a cloudy, but otherwise dry day on March 2 this year.

"And, this year, March 2nd is going to be dry," Pope predicted. There will be some clouds and a high of about 57, but no moisture.

January 11 and April 25 are the next two most likely days for rain in Salt Lake, at only 41 percent.

Pope's long-term look (1928-2002) at moisture probability has March 2 at 50.7 percent. However, he said it's slightly lower now.

That's because if you review the past five years, the weather has featured moisture in just two of those years on March 2 — a trace in 2008 and .09 inches of moisture in 2007. That equals a 40 percent chance of moisture over those five years.

Salt Lake is also in a drought pattern now, since the month of February at the Salt Lake International Airport boasted just 36.7 percent of the normal moisture for the month — just 0.50 inches of moisture, compared with the average of 1.33 inches.

The last times the airport received moisture were traces on both Feb. 24 and Feb. 25.

e-mail: lynn@desnews.com