March 2007- Warmest in more than 30 years
The weather of March 2007 was characterized by a return to well above normal temperatures following the near record breaking cold of February. In addition to the warmth, rain fell in abundance, and the snows left on the ground from February melted quickly. By month’s end, it felt like spring was in full bloom across Central Indiana.
March 2007 was the 6th warmest March ever recorded in the Indianapolis area.
The following is a summary of the weather conditions experienced in Indianapolis during March, 2007.
TEMPERATURE
The month of March 2007 started out sharply milder than February had been, with highs reaching into the 50s on the 1st of the month. However, this initial warmth was quickly erased as highs plunged back into the 30s and 40s. A high of only 32 degrees was recorded on the 6th of the month, followed by an overnight low of 16. These values made the day below normal by 14 degrees. The cold weather was soon just a frigid memory, as temperatures shot up by mid-month, cresting at 80 degrees on the 13th. This was the second earliest date ever for an 80 degree high temperature in Indianapolis. The only time 80 degrees has been reached earlier in the year was March 8, 1974.
Following this very early 80 degree reading, temperatures did plunge back to below normal right around the St. Patrick’s Day holiday, but this too was short-lived as high s reached back into the 70s and 80s to close the month.
An amazing 9 days in March 2007 saw highs of 70 degrees or better, compared to the normal value of 3 days in March. The last time there were this many days during March with highs in the 70s was 1945. In addition, 3 days in March this year had highs of 80 or better, the first time that has happened since 1939.
The monthly average temperature was 49.0 degrees. This was above the normal March value of 41.7 degrees by 7.3 degrees. It was enough to make this the 6th warmest March ever recorded, and the warmest since March of 1973 which had an average temperature of 49.4 degrees.
Three temperature records were broken this month. March 13 set the record daily high temperature of 80 degrees, breaking the previous record of 78 set in 1990. The high of 81 on March 25 broke the daily high temperature record of 80 degrees set in 1939. And the low temperature on March 26 only fell to 61 degrees, which was the warmest low temperature ever recorded on that date, besting the previous record of 60 degrees set in 1907.
PRECIPITATION
March 2007 finished with 4.91 inches of rainfall, above the normal of 3.32 inches by 1.47 inches. This made March the 7th consecutive month with above normal rainfall. No daily records were broken during the month for precipitation. 2.10 inches of the monthly rainfall total fell during the overnight hours of March 14th and into the early morning of the 15th during a period of heavy showers and thunderstorms after the passage of a slow moving cold front.
SNOWFALL
March is typically the month which will bring the final significant snows of the winter season to Central Indiana. With the warmth this month, snow was rather hard to come by. The only measurable snow during March came on the 3rd of the month when 0.9 inches fell. A trace of snow came again on the 15th and 17th of the month. The monthly tally of 0.9 inches was below the normal March total of 3.1 inches. This was the least snowy March since 2002 when 0.2 inches fell.
APRIL OUTLOOK
The official outlook for April 2007 calls for an Equal Chance of Above, Below, or Near Normal values of Precipitation and Temperature.
Normal values refer to period 1971-2000.
Temperature and Precipitation Records Cover 1871-2007 in the Indianapolis Area.
