As a transition between winter and spring in the U.S., March is the kind of month where just about any type of weather can happen. Coming off a very warm February 2017, many of us were tricked into thinking spring had arrived. However, an Arctic plunge of frigid air plowed into the nation’s midsection in mid-March, dashing hopes of an early spring and freezing plants as far south as Florida.
As a transition between winter and spring in the U.S., March is the kind of month where just about any type of weather can happen. Coming off a very warm February 2017, many of us were tricked into thinking spring had arrived. However, an Arctic plunge of frigid air plowed into the nation’s midsection in mid-March, dashing hopes of an early spring and freezing plants as far south as Florida.
Last month, the average contiguous U.S. temperature was 46.2 degrees F, 4.7 degrees above the 20th-century average. This ranked as the ninth warmest March in the 123-year period of record, according to scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. Record and near-record warmth spanned 13 states in the West and Great Plains, with below-average temperatures in the Northeast.
The average precipitation total for March was 2.56 inches, 0.05 inch above the 20th-century average, and ranked near the middle of the record. Much-above-average precipitation across the Northwest offset much-below-average precipitation in the Southeast.
Continue reading at NOAA.
Photo via NOAA.
