wt360 Weather Brief 28 Mar '26 Stormy Easter Pattern

28 March '26: Happy Saturday! :) Team360 headed to Utah for the DOMO'Palooza 2026 AI data conference and what a difference a year-makes. Record cold/snow last year...record hot/dry this year. We'll share some of the video from the event and One Republic concert at the end of today's video. We asked the wt360 robots what this week before Easter looks like and it's a mixed bag with a roller coaster ride of warm and cool but also very stormy. Unfortunately, our roller-coaster pattern here in the Northeast has the weekends colder and the midweeks much warmer. Nationally this weekend is a tale of two halves with cold East, hot West then a big nationwide warmup midweek before more cold weather moves back into the Northeast and Northwest with a stormy pattern setting up for Easter weekend. Last week (22-28 March) across the World shows amazing cold in Canada with the #1 coldest in over 41 years, while much warmer across the U.S., especially the Western U.S. The U.S. overall trended with similar temperatures to last year and 3rd warmest of the past 41 years. Rainfall was down -35% vs LY, least in 18 years and 3rd driest in 41 years, while snowfall was down -79% and least in 40 years. These are generally favorable trends for Spring seasonal merchandise that benefits from a warmer/drier pattern. The U.K. was cool and generally unfavorable, while Europe was 3rd warmest in 41 years...similar pattern as North America. Severe weather season-to-date shows tornadoes down -11% vs LY but still +36 above average. Hail cases up +28% vs LY (+20% above avg), while wind cases are -4% vs last year but still +78% above average. A big severe weather week is possible this week prior to Easter. Seasonal snowfall will end +16% more than last year, most in 3 years but 15th least in 41 years for the U.S. overall. The big winners were the East Coast most in 8 years, North Central most in 3 years while the West was near historic lows, least snowfall in 41+ years. Cold sub-freezing days nationally for the 1 Aug - 28 March period were -0.4% less and 6th least in 41 years, similar to last year. The Northeast was the cold spot with cold 32F days the most in 11 years. The top 4 snowiest weeks were late January, late November into middle December and late February. This week (29 Mar - 4 Apr) pre-Easter shows national temperatures trending +4.1F warmer than last year, warmest in 14 years and 4th warmest in 41 years. Again, in the East it's colder on the weekends and warmer midweek. Snowfall -85% vs LY, least in 14 years, while rainfall is down -34% vs LY, but still 6th wettest in 41 years nationally. The stormiest spots are from Dallas to Chicago into the Northeast. While temperatures will benefit Spring merchandise, the wet weather can dampen store traffic. The 6-day (28 Mar - 2 Apr) snowfall outlook shows 28% of the U.S. getting some light snow but still down -79% vs last year. Next week (5-11 Apr) shows some moderation in temperatures, but still +3.7F warmer than LY, warmest in 5 years and 11th warmest in 41 years. Snowfall up +67% vs LY, most in 3 years, while rainfall is also up +18% vs LY and 17th wettest of the past 41 years. The East was frigid last year, so temperatures are much warmer than a year ago bringing some pent-up demand for Spring merchandise especially during the mid-week periods vs the less favorable weekends. The World 2-week Temperature Outlook (29 Mar - 11 Apr) shows continued cold across Canada, milder U.S. and seasonably warm in Europe. The World 2-week Precipitation Outlook (29 Mar - 11 Apr) shows a stormier pattern across the U.S. trending 5th wettest of the past 41 years and continued favorably wet across Brazil for their Ag crops - wettest in 26 years! We end today's video with some of the sights and sounds of DOMO'Palooza 2026. Have a great week ahead, and don't forget to follow us on social media for updates: Facebook, Twitter(X), YouTube, Pinterest and Linkedin. Captain Kirk out (USAF Gulf War Veteran 1989-1999)