MikeS 66 Index - March 2013

My MikeS 66 Index reveals a rather cool and dry March for the country (excluding AK and HI). Thanks to persistent troughing along the east coast, weather east of the Rockies was cooler than normal. However, the west enjoyed warmer than average temperatures.

Although the official numbers from the National Climatic Data Center will be out later this week or the first part of next week, I provide a rough estimate of how temperatures and precipitation totals varied across the country.

Breaking them down into 6 regions, here are the numbers....

High Plains    33.0 (temperature average)
                     (4.3) BELOW AVERAGE
                     73.2% (of average precipitation)

Midwest        31.2
                     (5.2) BELOW AVERAGE
                     92.8%

Northeast      37.3
                     (1.7) BELOW AVERAGE
                     66.9%

Southeast      52.7
                    (5.3) BELOW AVERAGE
                    79.2%

Southern       52.7
                    (2.5) BELOW AVERAGE
                    58.8%

West            50.6
                     1.6.ABOVE AVERAGE
                    42.6%
----------------------------------------------------
United States 43.0
                     (2.9) BELOW AVERAGE
                     69.0%

Temperatures were much cooler than the 30-yr normal. However, precipitation will be among the driest March(es) on record.

Remember March 2012? Yes, it was the warmest March on record. Look at the map below. When the official data comes out later, we can compare the map below to the one from this year...

MS