EBS STAFF
An April 8 report from AccuWeather states that 10 U.S. states across the West experienced their warmest average temperatures throughout the month of March in at least 131 years.
Although Montana did not set a record, neighboring Idaho and Wyoming did, and the warm trend certainly impacted the Treasure State, which experienced at least a dozen daily records for high temperatures, particularly in a heat wave from March 18-22 when Bozeman temperatures neared 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The other record-warm states were California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma.
NOAA data shows more than 12,000 weather stations across the U.S. recorded a daily record high in March, including communities in every state except for Alaska—which has experienced its coldest winter in a half century, according to Alaska Public Media, and its fourth-coldest March since 1925. The national average temperature also shattered its March record, with daytime temperatures even beating the April daytime record.
“The [continental U.S.] average temperature in March was 50.85 F, 9.35 [degrees] above the 20th-century average, marking the first time any month’s average has exceeded 9 [degrees] above that baseline,” NOAA stated in a recent report. “Maximum daytime temperatures were especially high, averaging 11.4 [degrees] above the March average and 0.9 [degrees] above the April long-term average.” NOAA noted that nearly 60% of the continental U.S. is experiencing drought, the most extensive drought since November 2022.
