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.

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.

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.

Update: Washington, Albany, Chicago, Minneapolis All Smash March Monthly Temperature Records by Wide Margins; New York Near Miss

April 1 Update: No April Fooling, the high monthly average temperature records are confirmed by the preliminary March climate summaries. These are all double-digit departures from normal, and in the case of Chicago and Minneapolis, they are in excess of 15°:

            Avg Temp  Departure
Washington  56.8      +10.0
Albany      45.9      +10.9
Chicago     53.5      +15.6
Minneapolis 48.3      +15.5 

9 PM Update: Corrected historical data from the National Weather Service shows that the March 1945 average was 56.2°, so the Washington record was actually broken by 0.6°.

Original post:
As noted in earlier posts, all-time March monthly average temperature records were being broken over a wide area of the eastern and central U.S. Preliminary National Weather Service reports through this afternoon confirm that records were broken by wide margins at such major cities as Washington, Albany, Chicago, and Minneapolis. The records were each broken by over 1°; in the case of Chicago, it was by the incredible amount of nearly 5°. Thanks to a cloudy, damp March 31, New York missed the record by a small margin. The story in CapitalClimate charts from National Weather Service data:

Conversation: Confronting the Climate Change Challenge

Prof. Michael Mann on "Conversations From Penn State":



Full video here.

Marching On to History: Albany's Warmest March in 193-Year Climate Record, By a Wide Margin

A gusty northwesterly breeze is bringing much more seasonable temperatures to Albany, New York as the month draws to a close, but March 2012 is going into the record books as the warmest in history by a wide margin. Official temperature records began in Albany in 1874, shortly after the formation of the U.S. Weather Bureau. Thanks to the Regents of the State University of New York and Dr. Philip Ten Eyck, however, monthly temperature records extend back to 1820. In the 192 years prior to 2012, there had been only one March with an average temperature over 44° (44.4° in 1859). With 2 days left in the month, the average through yesterday was an eye-popping 46.2°, nearly 2° above the old record and 11.6° above normal.

Following temperatures forecast to range from the low 30s to mid and upper 40s through tomorrow, the final March average is likely to dip to around 45.8°, still 1.4° above the old record. This would be the first time the March average has ever exceeded 45° at Albany.

Temperature records were set or tied on 8 days this month (old record and date in parentheses):

March  8  68 (66, 2000)
March 12  69 (67, 1890)
March 13  70 (tie, 1946)
March 18  69 (65, 1966)
March 19  78 (75, 1894)
March 19  48 (tie, 1983) [high minimum]
March 20  78 (74, 1903)
March 20  51 (49, 1903)  [high minimum]
March 22  81 (80, 1938)
March 22  49 (44, 1949)  [high minimum]
March 23  56 (53, 1938)  [high minimum]  

The 7 daily high temperature records now held by 2012 are nearly one quarter of the month's total and 5 more than the next highest years. Only one daily temperature record remains from as early as 1910.

Images (click to enlarge): Albany, New York March 2012 average temperature to date (TD) and projected final average (PROJ) vs. 10 previous warmest Marches; Number of Albany March daily temperature records set by year; CapitalClimate charts from National Weather Service data