March sets record for warmest in history

Mother Nature made sure March 2012 was one for the record books with the unprecedented mid-month influx of warm, moist air that produced record-setting temperatures for Borderland and the rest of the state.

A prolonged early-spring warm spell set several temperature records across the region, including a 10-day stretch of record-breaking maximum high temperatures that also saw record-breaking maximum low temperatures in Borderland. Overall, 12 International Falls temperature records were tied or broken last month, according to the National Weather Service in Duluth website.

The average temperature for March was 38.2 degrees, which was 14.6 degrees warmer than the normal of 23.6 degrees, according to NWS. The figures make it the warmest March in weather-recorded history.

The NWS listed the high temperature on March 10 at 59 degrees, which broke the old record of 54 set in 1977; the high temperature on March 11 was 61 degrees, breaking the old record of 52 set in 2007; the high on March 13 was 55 degrees, which broke the old record of 54 set in 1995; the high for March 14 was 57 degrees, breaking the old record of 54 set in 2010 and 1911; the 57 degree high on March 15 tied the old record set in 2009; March 16 saw a high of 71 degrees to break the old record of 58 set in 2009; temperatures on March 17 reached 77 degrees to break the existing record of 55 set in 1968; thermometers on March 18 soared up to 79 degrees to break the old record of 66 set in 1918; March 19 had a temperature of 78 degrees to break the record of 60 set in 1918; the high temperature of 61 degrees on March 20 tied the old record set in 1987; the high temperature of March 21 came in at 69 degrees to top the old record of 56 set in 1987; and the high temperature for March 22 was 72 degrees which broke the record of 62 set in 2000.

According to the NWS, last month was also the fourth wettest March in history with a total of 2.81 inches of precipitation recorded. Precipitation was 1.86 inches above the normal of 0.95 inches.

Aside from precipitation, March’s snowfall amount brought it in as the 35th snowiest month in history, according to NWS.

A total of 8.4 inches of snow fell during the month, which was 0.8 inches above the normal snowfall amount of 7.6 inches.

March 29 set a daily precipitation record with 0.73 inches of precipitation recorded to break the old record of 0.72 inches in 1940.

March across the 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, which breaks the previous record of 46.9 degrees set more than 100 years ago in 1910, according to the Midwestern Regional Climate Center at the Illinois State Water Survey.

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 degrees in Minnesota (1910), 57.7 degrees in Missouri (1910), 51.5 degrees in Ohio (1946), and 45.3 degrees in Wisconsin (1910).

Throughout the month, more than 6,400 daily record high temperatures — including both minimum and maximum temperature — were set or tied, with more 650 of them also setting records for the warmest temperature for any day in March. A majority of the records were set during the middle of the month, from March 14 through March 24, when hundreds of records fell each day.