116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
It's official: March was warmest on record in Iowa
The warmer-than-usual winter left nine Midwestern states with their warmest March on record, and in Illinois the first three months of the year were the warmest three winter months since 1895.
The Midwestern Regional Climate Center and Illinois Water Survey in Champaign on Tuesday said that Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin all had record warmth for March. Average temperatures in the states ranged from 57.6 degrees in Kentucky to 42 degrees in Minnesota. Previous records were set in either the mid-1940s or 1910 in all nine states.
The Water Survey says the statewide average temperature across Illinois from the January-to-March period was 40.9 degrees. That's more than nine degrees above normal.
Redbud trees bloom at Hughes Nursery & Landscaping on Friday, March 23, 2012, in southwest Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The unusually warm temperatures have caused trees to bloom and leaf out prematurely. Workers at the business are working earlier than normal to harvest trees and the nursery and prepare them to transplanting. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette-KCRG)
Daily Newsletters