Rick Shields Ag Weather 3-11-10

Thundershowers rolled across parts of Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky around sunrise today.  It’s not out of the question you might hear a few rumbles tonight along with passing rain showers. But the big story today is the March mildness featuring highs in the lower sixties.  Wednesday Michigan State’s automated weather monitors recorded 58 in Coldwater and Kalamazoo along with 60 at the Trevor Nichols Research Center near Fennville.  You can expect warmer than normal readings into the early part of next week.  A year ago the seasons were transitioning with a lot more fits and starts than seems to be the case this time around.  On the ninth we hit 50 degrees and the following day we didn’t break the freezing mark.  The next day was only slightly warmer.  Upper fifties to lower sixties is a lot easier to deal with even if down the road in a week or so we’ll have to get used to a string of days with highs in the low to mid forties.

In the category of historical weather records on this date in 1911 the citizens of the mountain town of Tamarack, California said goodbye – or good riddance -- to winter as they measured a national record of somewhere around 37 feet of snow still on the ground.