Thursday, April 5, 2012

March Record Heat Update: Warmest March in 7 of 12 Northeast States, 23 of 35 Cities

The Northeast Regional Climate Center reports that March was the warmest on record in 7 out of the 12 states in the region, including 23 of the 35 major (first-order) climate reporting stations. This was the 12th consecutive above-normal month in the Northeast, and the 5th consecutive month for all 12 states:
The Northeast saw its warmest March in 118 years, beating out the previous warmest March (1945) by 0.9 degrees F. The region's monthly average temperature, 44.4 degrees F, was 9.8 degrees F above normal. March's average was only 1.9 degrees F cooler than April's normal average temperature and, with highs in the 80's as far north as Maine, some days felt quite summerlike! Between March 7th and 23rd, at least 127 new maximum temperature records were set at the thirty-five first order stations in the Northeast. It was the warmest March at twenty-three of the Northeast's first order stations; averages at the remaining stations ranked them between the 2nd and 5th warmest on record. Of the twelve states in the region, seven had their warmest March since 1895 (CT, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT, WV), three placed second warmest (DE, MA, NH), Maryland saw its third warmest, and Maine, its sixth warmest. Temperature departures ranged from +6.9 degrees F in Maine to +11.2 degrees F in New York. The string of above normal months stretched to twelve, and it was the 5th consecutive month with warmer than normal temperatures in all twelve states. The average for the first three months of 2012 was 34.7 degrees F, which was 6.6 degrees F above normal. It was the Northeast's warmest January through March since 1895, beating the previous record year, 1998, by 1.4 degrees F. Ten of the twelve Northeast states had their warmest January through March since 1895. Maine and Maryland missed the top spot by 1.7 and 0.1 degrees F, respectively.
Images (click to enlarge): Northeast U.S. March 2012 average temperature departure from normal, March 2012 average temperature rank by city, from Northeast Regional Climate Center

March Record Heat Update: Warmest March in History for All 9 Midwest States

The Midwestern Regional Climate Center has reported that March average temperatures were the warmest on record for all 9 of the states in the Midwest region:
March was the warmest on record for the nine-state Midwest region, based on preliminary temperature data. The average temperature for the region was 50.3 degrees Fahrenheit, which breaks the previous record of 46.9 degrees set over 100 years ago in 1910 . . .

Each of the nine Midwest states also set statewide records for the warmest March. Statewide records go back to 1895, and the existing records were all from the early to mid-20th century. Preliminary statewide average temperatures for March are:
54.9 degrees in Illinois (previous record 1946), 
54.4 degrees in Indiana (1946),
51.3 degrees in Iowa (1910),
57.6 degrees in Kentucky (1945),
44.5 degrees in Michigan (1945),
42.0 degrees in Minnesota (1910),
57.7 degrees in Missouri (1910),
51.5 degrees in Ohio (1946),
45.3 degrees in Wisconsin (1910)
March average temperatures ranged from 10 degrees above average in Kentucky to 17 degrees above average in northwest Iowa, southern Minnesota, and western Wisconsin. During the record-breaking period from March 14 to 24, temperature departures ranged from at least 13 degrees above average in southwest Missouri to just over 29 degrees above average in central Wisconsin and northern Michigan.

Monday, April 2, 2012

March Heat Records Crush Cold Records by Over 35 to 1

U.S. daily record high temperatures continued to surge into the end of March, with new heat records overwhelming cold records by the incredible ratio of 35.3 to 1. The total number of heat records was 6,182, nearly double the number in the sweltering month of August last year. The monthly count for March was also more than the entire year's total of cold records in either 2011 or 2010. The year-to-date ratio is now at 22 to 1, nearly double last summer's pace.

Included in the total were 340 new all-time March high temperature records vs. only 8 low temperature records, a ratio of over 42 to 1. Over 110 official climate reporting locations (ASOS stations) in 27 states also reported record high average temperatures for March. This represents roughly one-fourth of the total number of such stations.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Century-Plus March Monthly Average Temperature Records Smashed From New England to Montana, Minnesota to Mississippi

[Stay tuned for more records to be posted as they are compiled.]

Update 1: Added stations from Indiana, Michigan
Update 2: Added stations from Illinois, Wisconsin
Update 3: Added stations from Iowa
Update 4: Added stations from New Hampshire, New Jersey, more from Pennsylvania
Update 5: Added stations from Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas
Update 6: Added more Ohio stations (h/t to comment from anonymous)
Update 7: Added North Dakota, South Dakota, more Kansas and Nebraska stations.
Update 8: Added Oklahoma, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado.
Update 9: Added Tennessee, Mississippi
Update 10: Added North and South Carolina
Update 11: Added Connecticut and Georgia
Update 12: Added Florida
Update 13: Added West Virginia, Virginia, Louisiana, Texas
Update 14: Added Atlanta region.

The extremely warm temperatures this past month set records for warmest March average temperature in at least 110 cities across 33 states from New England to Montana (including the 4 major cities highlighted previously). In addition to the Washington, Albany, Chicago, and Minneapolis records shown in the previous post, the following major climate reporting locations set records, in many cases by wide margins in century-plus periods of record (previous records and year in parentheses). Locations are grouped by state, roughly north to south, and east to west.
Burlington VT      43.2  (40.0, 1903)
Concord NH 42.1 (41.1, 1921 & 1946)
Hartford CT 47.1 (46.2, 1945)
Syracuse NY 46.5 (42.6, 1973)
Buffalo NY 47.4 (44.5, 1946)
Rochester NY 47.3 (43.8, 1945)
Pittsburgh PA 51.5 (51.2, 1946)
Erie PA 48.9 (46.8, 1946)
Mt. Pocono PA 45.4 (44.1, 1945)
Allentown PA 49.8 (48.2, 1945)
Trenton NJ 52.5 (51.9, 1903)
Atlantic City NJ 51.2 (49.2, 1945)
Dulles VA 54.3 (49.5, 2010)
Beckley WV 54.0 (50.4, 1918)
Huntington WV 56.9 (55.8, 1921)
Parkersburg WV 54.2 (54.1, 1942)
Raleigh-Durham NC 60.4 (60.2, 1945)
Greensboro NC 59.0 (58.4, 1945)
Columbia SC 65.4 (NA)
Greenville SC 62.5 (60.6, 1945)
Atlanta GA 64.5 (61.8, 1945)
Athens GA 63.6 (62.7, 1921)
Columbus GA 66.8 (63.5, 1997)
Alma GA 67.9 (NA)
St Simons Is. GA 68.2 (NA)
Tampa FL 74.4 (73.9, 1997)
Sarasota FL 73.0 (72.6, 1997)
Cleveland OH 51.4 (49.5, 1946)
Mansfield OH 50.4 (48.3, 1946)
Akron OH 51.1 (49.0, 1946)
Toledo OH 50.9 (47.7, 1945)
Youngstown OH 49.5 (48.1, 1946)
Cincinnati OH 55.3 (54.7, 1946)
Dayton OH 53.6 (52.8, 1946)
Columbus OH 53.8 (52.6, 1946)
Bowling Green KY 61.1 (NA)
Lexington KY 56.3 (NA)
Louisville KY 59.6 (NA)
Paducah KY 60.5 (56.7, 2007)
Nashville TN 61.1 (59.7, 1907)
Memphis TN 64.8 (62.5, 2007)
Jackson TN 61.7 (58.8, 2007)
Chattanooga TN 62.9 (60.8, 1921)
Knoxville TN 60.4 (59.0, 1945)
Tri-Cities TN 56.9 (56.0, 1945)
Oak Ridge TN 60.6 (55.0, 1973)
Tupelo MS 63.8 (61.9, 1945)
Greenwood MS 64.8 (62.3, 2007)
Hattiesburg MS 68.0 (64.6, 1955)
Vicksburg MS 66.2 (63.2, 1953)
Lake Charles LA 70.3 (69.2, 1921)
New Iberia LA 69.5 (67.1, 1953)
Shreveport LA 67.3 (NA)
Monroe LA 68.0 (NA)
Tyler TX 65.6 (NA)
Longview TX 65.9 (NA)
Indianapolis IN 56.6 (51.9, 1946 & 1910)
Ft. Wayne IN 52.6 (48.1, 1946)
South Bend IN 52.8 (47.4, 1946)
Evansville IN 59.4 (57.2, 1910)
Grand Rapids MI 50.7 (45.9, 1945)
Lansing MI 49.3 (46.4, 1945)
Muskegon MI 49.7 (43.7, 1945)
Detroit MI 50.7 (47.9, 1945)
Flint MI 49.5 (46.0, 1945)
Saginaw MI 48.0 (45.1, 1945)
Sault Ste Marie MI 37.7 (37.6, 2010)
Houghton Lake MI 43.7 (42.0, 1945)
Alpena MI 40.9 (39.7, 1946)
Traverse City MI 46.8 (41.5, 1946)
Gaylord MI 41.4 (39.3, 1973)
Marquette MI 39.7 (33.1, 1973)
Peoria IL 55.4 (50.1, 1946)
Springfield IL 57.3 (54.6, 1946)
Lincoln IL 55.0 (52.6, 1946)
Rockford IL 52.4 (48.2, 1945)
Moline IL 53.3 (49.8, 1910)
Milwaukee WI 48.8 (44.3, 1945)
Madison WI 50.1 (45.2, 1945)
Green Bay WI 46.3 (41.4, 1910)
Rhinelander WI 42.9 (38.4, 1946)
Wausau WI 45.8 (43.3, 1910)
Eau Claire WI 47.4 (39.7, 1973)
La Crosse WI 50.4 (47.1, 1878)
Rochester MN 49.1 (42.9, 1910)
Duluth MN 39.2 (38.8, 1878)
Int'l Falls MN 38.2 (34.4, 2010)
St. Cloud MN 44.0 (37.8, 1918)
Dubuque IA 50.2 (47.7, 1910)
Des Moines IA 55.7 (51.5, 1910)
Waterloo IA 51.1 (46.8, 1910)
Sioux City IA 53.2 (50.6 1910)
Kansas City MO 58.4 (58.3, 1910)
St. Joseph MO 57.5 (54.0, 1946)
Kirksville MO 54.3 (48.1, 2007)
St. Louis MO 61.1 (57.5, 1910)
Columbia MO 59.7 (56.0, 1946)
Springfield MO 58.1 (57.6, 1910)
Vichy-Rolla MO 59.1 (53.5, 2007)
Little Rock AR 64.3 (63.1, 1907)
Ft. Smith AR 63.6 (62.6, 1907)
Jonesboro AR 62.4 (61.5, 1921)
Grand Forks ND 38.0 (35.4, 1973)
Fargo ND 41.6 (40.9, 1910)
Bismarck ND 43.2 (tie, 1910)
Rapid City SD 49.5 (48.9, 1910)
Sioux Falls SD 49.8 (49.2, 1910)
Huron SD 48.1 (45.8, 1910)
Lincoln NE 55.0 (53.4, 1910)
Omaha NE 56.4 (54.6, 1910)
Norfolk NE 53.0 (50.6, 1910)
McCook NE 52.1 (48.3, 2007)
Topeka KS 59.3 (57.2, 1910)
Goodland KS 50.7 (48.8, 1907)
Salina KS 57.1 (54.8, 1946)
Oklahoma City OK 60.8 (60.6, 1910)
Tulsa OK 61.5 (61.3, 1910)
Glasgow MT 42.2 (40.4, 1986)
Billings MT 47.0 (46.2, 1986)
Miles City MT 47.1 (44.1, 1986)
Sheridan WY 45.5 (45.2, 1910)
Lander WY 44.2 (44.1, 1986)
Casper WY 44.1 (42.8, 1986)
Rock Springs WY 40.3 (39.7, 1986)
Riverton WY 43.9 (43.2, 1986)
Cheyenne WY 44.6 (44.4, 1910)
Burlington CO 49.5 (47.7, 1986)
Colo. Springs CO 48.0 (47.4, 1910)
Notes:
- Burlington: The 12.2° departure above normal was the third highest for any month since records began in 1884.
- Indianapolis: The last time any new monthly record average temperature record was set was in August 1936; the current record breaks the old March record by the incredible amount of over 4°.
- South Bend: The March average was 4.1° above the normal for April.
- Ft. Wayne: The high of 87° was a new all-time high for the month of March (old record 86° on the 24th in 1910).
- Chicago: The March average would have been the 7th warmest April.
- Rockford: The March average would have been only the 3rd coolest May.
- Milwaukee and Madison: Both also set records for warmest first quarter (January-March), 36.2° vs. 33.2°/1921 and 35.2° vs. 33.8°/1878, respectively.
- Des Moines: The first quarter (January-March) set a new record of 39.7° vs. 36.1° in 1921. This was the first winter in which the low temperature failed to reach zero. The 12 months from April 2011 through 2012 averaged 55.1°, breaking the old record of 53.6° in 1934-35. Records began in 1879.
- Waterloo: This is the widest margin between any monthly record and the second place temperature, ahead of November 2001, which was the warmest by 4.2°. The first quarter temperature of 34.8° breaks the record of 32.7° set in 1921. Records began in 1895.
- Fargo: The minimum of 60° on the 18th was an all-time record high minimum for March.
- Glasgow: This was the 9th month in a row with above-normal temperatures, and the average of 44.1° for July 2011-March 2012 is the warmest on record; the previous high was 44.0 in 1991-92.

Seasonal Outlook

Latest seasonal forecast: Click here.


Latest 3-month temperature outlook from Climate Prediction Center/NWS/NOAA.