STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — AccuWeather.com reports March 2012 is officially the warmest March on record for dozens of cities across more than 25 states and Washington, D.C.
Few will argue that March 2012 felt more like late spring or summer across the eastern two-thirds of the U.S., and now meteorologists can also officially deem the month as historic.
Never before in dozens of cities where long-standing records are kept have March temperatures averaged as warm as they did this past month.
Those cities, several of which are listed below, span at least 26 states from the central High Plains to the East Coast and include Washington, D.C.
For Indianapolis, March 2012 marks the first time that a monthly average temperature record has been set since August 1936. The last time such a record was tied occurred 66 years ago in March 1946.
The magnitude of the warmth can be put into another perspective by comparing March 2012 with other months.
In Chicago, March 2012 would rank seventh if it were included in the city’s list of top ten warmest Aprils.
The average temperature this past month in Burlington, Vt., was 12.2 degrees above normal, which is now the city’s third highest temperature departure for any month.
February 1981 remains at the top of that list with an average temperature of 14.8 degrees above normal. Typically in March, the average temperature in Burlington comes out to only 31.0 degrees.
New York City and Philadelphia came less than 0.4 of a degree from being included in the above list, but have to settle for March 2012 being the second-warmest March on record.
Denver, Colo., also fell just short of last month being the warmest ever March. However, March 2012 will go down in history books as the city’s driest and least-snowiest March on record.