What a Difference a Year Makes

Last March at this time we were approaching the end of the first half of the warmest March on record in the contiguous U.S.  This year, things are quite different through the first 10 days of March.

At this time last March the warmest part of the month, especially in the central U.S., lie just ahead. The highest number of temperature records occurred between March 14 and March 24, 2012. Maximum temperature and high minimum temperature records were not just broken - they were shattered by 10 and 20 degrees or more. By the end of March 2012 were more than 15,000 daily records for warmth broken across the country. So far in March 2013 there have only been 374 warm temperature records set.