Record Warm St. Patrick's Day in Midwest

Update: Another 84 new high records were set, and 59 were tied, on the 18th.

Original post:
Temperatures reaching the low 70s as far north as southern Wisconsin and southwestern Michigan set or tied long-term daily maximum temperature records for March 17 across several Midwest states. The Downtown Kansas City Airport tied the record of 82° set in 1894. Other record readings in Missouri were reported at Joplin, St. Joseph, Columbia, and the Kansas City International Airport. Stations in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, and Wisconsin also contributed to the total of 11 record reports. Including cooperative reporting stations, 53 daily temperature records were tied or set across the entire U.S.

Images (click to enlarge): Daily high temperatures for March 17 from Unisys, March 17 high temperature records tied or set from National Climatic Data Center