Original article from late Monday morning
Another wave of unseasonably warm weather is sweeping the Midwest and Northeast, just days after the Lower 48 states wrapped up their warmest winter in more than a century of records. Already, more than 200 warm weather records they happened in the first few days of March and dozens more are on the way on Monday.
Many locations from Kansas to Michigan experienced their warmest day so early in the calendar year on Sunday, as highs climbed into the 70s and 80s. Minneapolis hit 74 degrees, which is a typical high for Memorial Day weekend.
On Monday, record hot weather is forecast to extend east into Chicago, Detroit and Buffalo. The warm, moist air could spark some strong thunderstorms from Houston to Chicago.
Warmth continues to spread across the central and eastern United States, at the same time that cold weather is notably absent in Canada, a key source region for freezing air in North America. The lack of cold is attributed to both human-caused climate change and the El Niño climate.
How hot was the weekend
Warmth first made its way into the Upper Midwest late last week.
Minneapolis tied the record with 59 points on Friday and scored a record 63 on Saturday. Sunday's high of 74 was the warmest on record, not just for that day but for the entire first half of March. It surpassed the previous record set on March 3 by 9 points.
Other notable record highs on Sunday include:
- 82 points in Topeka, Kan.
- 81 degrees in Springfield, Mo.
- 80 degrees in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (highest temperature this early in the year)
- 78 degrees in Peoria, Ill.
- 73 degrees in Madison, Wis. (highest temperature so early in the year)
- 71 degrees in Muskegon, Mich (highest temperature this early in the year)
A few record highs also spread across the Northeast on Sunday. New York (68), Hartford, Conn. (67) and Providence, RI (63) were among the locations that set calendar day records.
More records are predicted for Monday and Tuesday
From the Midwest to New England, dozens of record-breaking hot weather are forecast for Monday.
Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit and Buffalo are forecast to climb into the 70s, or 30 to 35 degrees above average.
It will be especially warmer in the south. From Texas to the Mid-South, 80s are possible Monday. By Tuesday, parts of South Texas could reach the 90s, while Houston has a chance to set a record high in the mid-80s.
Snow and ice remain at record levels
Amidst the heat, snowpack remains average across the 48 states near a record low. And the same goes for ice cover in the Great Lakes.
Just 21.4 percent of the contiguous United States was covered in snow Monday morning, tied with 2022 for the second-fewest on record. Only 2020 had less snow (21 percent coverage). The average area covered by snow on March 4 is 34 percent.
Meanwhile, ice covered just 3.5 percent of the Great Lakes on Sunday, the lowest since records began in 1973. Ice coverage typically peaks between mid-February and early March, but there are few signs that will happen this year. This season will likely end up having the lowest average ice cover over the lakes on record.
Punxsutawney Phil seems to have been right about the beginning of spring, as green leaves expand north, flowers begin to bloom and pollen fills the air. The spring weather pattern shows little sign of abating in any significant way.
Although the chance for record hot weather diminishes by midweek, forecasts lean toward above-average temperatures through the middle of the month. But since March is an unsettled month, an occasional spell of colder weather is likely, and there are some signs that a more wintry weather pattern could briefly affect parts of the central and eastern United States during its second half.
