It’s the coldest St. Patrick’s Day we’ve experienced in more than 20 years and the snowiest we’ve seen in more than 30.

PENNSYLVANIA, USA — It’s the coldest St. Patrick’s Day we’ve experienced in more than 20 years and the snowiest we’ve seen in more than 30.

We recorded 0.6″ of snow in the WNEP Backyard on Tuesday morning, which is the most snow we’ve measured on St. Patrick’s Day since 1993. That year, an inch and a half of snow fell on March 17, but there was still nearly a foot of snow on the ground from the blizzard just a few days earlier.

The most snow to ever fall on March 17 was in 1967 when the Scranton area recorded just under 5 inches of snow, 4.7.”

Then the rainiest St. Patrick’s Day was a year later in 1968, when more than an inch of rain fell in Scranton, 1.05.”

The hottest St. Patrick’s Day ever on record was in 1945; it was 81 degrees that day. The coldest March 17th ever was in 1916. It was only 18 degrees for a high that day, and the low was just 4 degrees.

Monday’s high was 68 degrees in the Scranton area, but the cold front passed, the rain turned to snow, and temperatures very quickly fell into the 20s overnight. 

Now with highs barely getting above freezing on Tuesday, this year will be in the top 20 for coldest St. Patrick’s Days since record keeping began more than 120 years ago. This is also the coldest St. Patrick’s Day we’ve experienced in more than two decades, since 2004. 

It hasn’t been in the 30s for afternoon highs since 2014. The average high for March 17 for the Scranton area is around 48 degrees. 

Later in the week, temperatures will get back close to that just in time for the Spring Equinox.Â