So far, this meteorological spring–March, April, and May–has had a chilly narrative, but reality tells a different story.

What You Need To Know

  • March finished with temperatures more than four degrees above average

  • April, through the 21st, is trending slightly warmer than average

  • Our weekends have featured chilly temperatures

One reason for this false narrative is that, out of 14 weekend days so far this spring, 10 have featured below-average temperatures. This includes the last eight.

But when we look at monthly data for March, we finished with an average temperature of 38.3 degrees, which is 4.2 degrees above average. Most of March should feature highs in the 40s, yet we had six days of at least hitting 60 degrees, two of which were at least 70 degrees.

We finished with 9.3” of snow, but the monthly average is 14.1”. It was weekends like the March 12 and 13, however, that gave us that chilly narrative. That weekend we never climbed above freezing.

Temperature difference from normal in March. (WeatherBELL)

Through the first three weekends of April, there hasn’t been one weekend day with even seasonable temperatures, let alone above-average temperatures. Every Saturday and Sunday so far has featured highs only in the 40s.

However, through the 21st, April’s average monthly temperature is slightly above average by 0.4 degrees. Parts of the Upper Midwest have featured well below average temperatures, but we're right on the transition to seasonable to even mild temperatures as you get closer to the coast, as you can see in the map below.

We’ve already had six days of 60 or above, yet the average high is still only in the 50s. It just so happens our warm days have been during the workweek when most can’t really enjoy them.

We also average 2.5” of snow for the month of April and have only received 0.8” so far.

Temperature difference from normal for April, through the 21st. (WeatherBELL)

Luckily, after four straight weekends of below-average temperatures, we’ll put an end to that run this weekend. We’ll be adding to the days of 60 degrees or warmer with highs Saturday in the low to mid-60s, then 70s to near 80 on Sunday.

We expect another cooldown for the middle of next week, but at least seasonable temperatures return by the following weekend.

So, while it hasn’t been an unseasonably warm spring, the narrative that winter’s been hanging on and it’s been on the chilly side is a false one. This is just the case where sometimes the weather narrative is all about timing and so far, Mother Nature just hasn’t had good timing.