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.