Unless something unbelievable and unexpected happens between now and the stroke of midnight Saturday night, the month of March 2012 will go down as the warmest on record for Eau Claire.  The numbers are not even close compared to previous Marches.  Check out the stats below:

Warmest Marches and Average Temp. for that Month

1. **2012 – 47.9°
2. 1910 – 44.6°
3. 1946 – 41.9°
4. 1973 – 39.7°
5. 1945/2010 – 39.6°

** – In Progress

Top Five Warmest Marches for Eau Claire

The list above is ordered from highest to lowest in overall average temperature.  Basically, take every hourly observation from 12 AM March 1st through midnight March 31st and find the average.  A three degree difference between 2012 and 1910 is impressive, but it gets better!  Read the next two paragraphs and you will understand why.

March 1910 still holds on to the title of warmest high temperature average with 58.3°, but barely.  March 2012 is close behind at 57.7°.  This statistic will remain the same, unless our daytime high is above 83° Saturday afternoon. 

So how will March 2012 overall be significantly warmer than March 1910?  The average low temperature for March 2012 is 38.1°, a tremendous seven degrees warmer compared to March 1910′s 30.9° average.  In fact, March 1948 is the second warmest on record at 31.8°.  Maple syrup producers around the area will tell you this spring was the worst sapping season they can ever recall.  With only 11 mornings below freezing this month, that’s not surprising.  1910 was slightly better with 18 mornings at or below freezing.

Finally, I can’t go without mentioning the number of new temperature records established this month.  Ten daytime high records were logged, while eleven warmest, overnight lows were recorded.  That’s a total of 21 temperature records! 

What we have witnessed this month as far as temperature is unprecedented.  It will likely be several years, or a lifetime, before this happens again in our area.  Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more from Beyond the Forecast…

Posted under Hometown Weather, Weather, Weblogs

Well, to say “new station” is kind of misleading.  If you’re an avid watcher of WQOW News 18, you may remember I was the weekend meteorologist from 2007 through most of 2009.  After a short leave of two and a half years, working on the morning show at our sister station WXOW in La Crosse, I’m back in Eau Claire.  It feels great to be part of the community again!  I hope 2012 is starting well for you, and I wish you best of luck and a prosperous new year.

For me, a new year not only brings a new job, but also a new opportunity to connect with you, my friends and neighbors.  In addition to my work on air and online, I’ll be keeping this neat blog called Beyond the Forecast.  Please, feel free to bookmark this blog, because I will be sharing some cool things along the way that you won’t want to miss!  If you’re an avid computer user like me, you sometimes need a go-to place online.  That’s my goal with this blog.  I’ll not only talk about the short and long range forecast, but we’ll get into some weird and cool science too.  I promise I won’t make it difficult, just fun!  I’m not limited to science either; discussions regarding the Chippewa Valley, news, and sports are not off the table!

Some things about me:  I graduated from UW-Madison with my Meteorology degree in 2007 and I earned the Certified Broadcast Meteorologist designation from the American Meteorological Society in 2009.  I love anything relating to the Wisconsin Badgers, the Packers, good food, great conversation, and fun.  My wife Britny and I were married in Eau Claire in July 2010, and we both grew up in a rural community just northeast of Eau Claire.  We are quite familiar with the area, but love meeting more people.  If you see us out and about, never be afraid to say hi!

So, stay tuned for a look Beyond the Forecast….

Nick

Posted under Hometown Weather, Weather