March Heat Wave

March Heat wave

We generally do not think of the term “Heat Wave” when we think of the Month of March but in March of 2012, we had a very remarkable warm event take place. This was not a one or two day “warm” spell that we sometimes get in March but instead lasted for (at Grand Rapids) for 12 days. It started in earnest on March 14th when Grand Rapids had a high of 80° and for the next 12 days we had temps that would be more like June than March. Reaching a peak on March 21st with a high of 87° In all in that 12-day stretch Grand Rapids had 5 days of 80 or warmer 10 days of 71 or warmer in total March 2012 head 18 days of 62 or warmer at Grand Rapids.
New All-Time Record High Temperatures for March

City New Record High (Date) Old Record High (Date)
Detroit, Mich. 86 (3/22) 82 (3/28/1945)
Lansing, Mich. 86 (3/21) 82 (3/24/1910)
Toledo, Ohio 85 (3/21, 3/22) 83 (3/24/1910)
Bangor, Maine 84 (3/22) 79 (3/29/1946)
Milwaukee, Wis. 84 (3/21) 82 (3/29/1986, 3/31/1986)
Cleveland, Ohio 83 (3/20-3/22) – tie 83 (3/24/1910, 3/25/1945)
Madison, Wis. 83 (3/21) 82 (3/29/1986, 3/31/1981)
Buffalo, N.Y. 82 (3/21) 81 (3/26/1945)
London, Ontario 81 (3/22) 77 (3/30/1998)
Marquette, Mich. 81 (3/21) 71 (3/8/2000)
Ottawa, Ontario 81 (3/21) 80 (3/29/1946)
International Falls, Minn. 79 (3/18) 73 (3/31/1963)
Toronto, Ontario 79 (3/22) 78 (3/28/1945)
Montreal, Quebec 78 (3/21) – tie 78 (3/28/1945)
Caribou, Maine 75 (3/21) 73 (3/30/1962)
Winnipeg, Manitoba 75 (3/19) 74 (3/27/1946)
Quebec City, Quebec 65 (3/21) 64 (3/30/1962)

Of course there was a price for crops to pay as April 2012 ended up close to average and there was a hard freeze on April 29th when the temp fell to 28° causing a lot of damage to crops that year.

While still on the subject of a warm March day the official H/L yesterday at Grand Rapids was 76/39 that 76 is the 2^nd warmest for any March 14^th with March 14, 2012 at 80 being the warmest. That 76 was the warmest for any day in March since 2012. There was no rain/snowfall before midnight. The highest wind gust was 39 MPH out of the S. The sun was out 73% of the possible time. For today the average H/L is 44/27 the record high of 75 was set in 1990 the coldest high was 20 in 1997. The record low of 5 was set in 1897 the warmest low of 52 was set in 2012 the most rain fall of 1.31” was in 1943 the most snowfall of 5.2” was in 1912 the most on the ground was 11” in 1904.

The overnight low so far here in MBY and current reading is 56 I have had 0.29″ of rainfall so far. I have not seen any lightning with the rain so far.

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI  
328 AM EDT SAT MAR 15 2025  
   
KEY MESSAGES  
  
- STORMS EARLY THIS MORNING, THEN WARM AND WINDY  
  
- 30 DEGREES COLDER SUNDAY WITH RAIN MIXING WITH SNOW  
  
- WARM MID WEEK, THEN COLDER  
  

     Forecast Discussion 

The showers and isolated storms from earlier this morning have
just about all moved out of the forecast area except for a few
left over across Clare and Osceola counties as of 10 am this
morning. These will be moving out over the next hour or so,
leaving dry conditions over all of the area.

The focus then transitions to the gusty winds expected, and
blowing dust moving over the area this afternoon. The feature
responsible for both of these phenomena is the dry slot over IL as
part of the massive cyclone centered to our west. The dry slot
will be moving over the area over the next few hours. This will
bring the gusty winds over the area during peak heating as we warm
up to around 70F once again.

Also in this dry slot is plenty of dust that was lofted into the
atmosphere from the strong winds over the southern Plains
yesterday. Gusts over 70 knots were recorded yesterday with temps
in the 60s and dew points below 0F. This dust is still very
evident on the visible satellite imagery, and is confirmed by
upstream observations over IL with 3-5sm and HZ with mainly clear
skies.

Michigan Dept of Environment Great Lakes and Energy is monitoring
this regarding air quality. Air quality across IL/IA/MO have
dropped down to Unhealthy to Very Unhealthy. We have added the
dust into the forecast for awareness.

Finally, late this afternoon, we will see the leading edge of the
next wave ride up toward Eastern Lower. This will bring more
moisture and combine with some diurnal instability to pop a few
storms before the widespread rain moves in this evening. Can not
rule out a stronger storm with the gusty winds. This will be
isolated at best in nature, and we have the wind advisory in place
already to cover the synoptic winds.