This weekend in Rochester the buzz around town is for the Tops St. Patrick’s Day Parade, as it is this Saturday, March 16. As history has shown us, the weather this time of year — and for the parade specifically — can be anywhere from the teens and snow to 70s and sun. The last few parades, we have had not as much luck; though: Each of the last five parades — 2023, 2022, 2019, 2018, and 2017 — have had some sort of snow falling on the day of or snow on the ground. (2020 & 2021 are not listed as they were cancelled due to the pandemic.)

Each one of the last five parades was very chilly, too. The “warmest” of the last five was on March 17, 2017 with a high temperature of 39 degrees. Even though it was the warmest, that parade had 8 inches of snow on the ground! The last two years (2023 and 2022) weren’t much better, as highs were near freezing both years with 2023 having 0.6 inches of snow falling the day of, and 6 inches of snow on the ground. The year 2022 had 3 inches of snow fall on the day with an additional 3 inches of snow on the ground. Out of the last five parades March 11, 2017 was the coldest with a high of only 19 degrees! (1.5 inches of snow fell on the day of it as well.)

With that said, we have not had much luck with the weather, but this year the luck is on our side. This year’s parade forecast is calling for highs in the low 50s with increasing clouds through the day. Most of the day will be dry as well, but we will need to track some rain showers rolling in during the late evening hours. It will be a little breezy as well with winds moving out of the southwest Saturday afternoon.