Here are some amazing statistics from the record heat have of March 2012: Marquette reached 81 degrees on March 21st. This not only broke a record high by 32 degrees, but the low temperature that day was higher than the previous record high. That is amazing! Also when you consider where Marquette is located; on the shore of Lake Superior. At that time of year it is normal to have snow levels 3' to 4' high. Of course further south the temps were even higher. Today we are having another heat wave. The temp here is 67 degees! I wonder if we might see 70 today? The next 2 days should be more normal with mid 40's expected.
It's nice to get an unseasonably warm stretch at the very end of winter. It's been a "heat wave" here in southern New England too. 73 is the forecasted high in my town today I remember we hit 70 during the tail end of March last year too. We'll still have a few frosty mornings over the next couple weeks, but the real cold by and large has moved out. The buds are starting to swell on a lot of our red and silver maples already, skunk cabbage is making an appearance and the tulips are breaking the surface in the warmer spots.
I remember that heat wave...the was the week I went to pick up the then new to me Yukon wood/oil furnace...it was hot out! They say hindsight is 20/20 n all that...yep, should have left that machine right where I found it! As I recall there were a bunch of crops went out early that year too...and I had to mow the yard weeks earlier than normal.
The guessers are calling for 2”-4” of snow here today, it was pleasant most of the week in the 50’s & 60’s.
It was 71* at my house yesterday and in the mid 70's where official readings are taken. The local news last night was saying that the record temp was set in 2012, at 81*. So yeah, I guess 2012 was warmer.
I remember that! We had a cookout at the cottage on the newly built covered deck that day. I do not plow the driveway but everyone was able to drive all the way down without snow and no soft gravel that day also! I think that is the only time since the place was built in the late 50's. And, no bugs!
It is ridiculously warm here too. Suppose to get to 50 degrees today. My darn rhubarb is poking out of the ground about 6 weeks too early. Choke cherries too are swelling. Sucks because I know they will die before real spring gets here. The rhubarb will bounce back, but not the choke cherries. I usually take 10 gallons off them, for jelly and syrup.
I also remember that early summer back in '12. We set all sorts of records and were running the A/C in March! This year we have had a sprinkling of above average days. We just got a slushy/snowy mix of about an inch on Friday/Saturday...most of which is gone now, except in the areas of shade in the woods. I managed to pound a couple t-posts into the frozen ground a couple days ago so I can finally start splitting today. Still having some nights dropping to around or below freezing. Last night it dropped to 25°. The highs the last two days have been in the low 40's. Here are our high/low temps for the first 19 days in March. Our average HDD is 35 so far this month, which is 5° cooler than our average HDD since I started keeping track in 2015. Enjoy the brief warm up, soggy and cooler conditions expected next week - Julian
