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)Notes:
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)
- 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.
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3 comments:
Here's another impressive set of records from Des Moines, Iowa:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/images/dmx/March_Story_DSM.pdf
55.7 degrees last month, previous record 51.5 degrees from March 1910.
39.7 degrees from January 1 through March 31, previous record 36.1 degrees from 1921.
55.1 degrees from April 1, 2011 through March 31, 2012, previous record 53.6 from 1934-35.
Just wanted to point out that the reason it's been so long for a monthly record in Indy is because the downtown site was much warmer than the airport site. Same story at Pittsburgh. March 2012 was the first month ever to rank as the warmest on record since records began being taken at the Pittsburgh International Airport in the early 1950s. Every other monthly record was from the downtown site, although the previous March record was from Allegheny County Airport. There was a period of overlap between the downtown site and the airport site, and downtown tended to be about 3 degrees warmer because it is quite a bit lower in elevation (the airport is on a 1200' ridge) and subject to much greater UHI. Allegheny County Airport is about a degree warmer, mostly from overnight minima (as it is at roughly the same elevation as KPIT).
In addition to being the first month at the airport to set a record, this is only the third month even to crack the top five all-time at Pittsburgh. The other months are August 1995, which is second all-time, and November 2001, which is fifth all-time.
The thread-ex program is one of the reason I think a lot of people don't believe in global warming because they see these numbers trotted off as "official" and it looks so much warmer in the past. Plus, they hear the denier mantra about increasing UHI contamination in the records, when in actuality the reverse is usually true. I've been kind of on a crusade to get the NWS to quit splicing together records from disparate sites, but it hasn't really been successful. This is also why the co-op sites used by GHCN show considerably more warming than these "official" city numbers, which aren't used by GHCN -- at least not as a spliced together record.
It was also the warmest on record at Youngstown, Mansfield, Columbus, Dayton, and Cincinnati in Ohio. And I saw on the NWS Colorado Springs website, it was the warmest there. Really incredible how widespread the record-breaking warmth was this month. I suspect there's a good chance this will be the warmest March on record nationally. We'll just have to wait and see. 1910, which is the current recordholder I believe, was a little warmer out west. But given that many places in the midwest and eastern US are 2-5+ degrees warmer this month that that month, I suspect 2012 will come out on top.
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