Despite chill, March a bit warmer than in '08

Tuesday's rare early season 70s are just a memory as the area enters a
second day of cooling. Wednesday's high temperatures, which were as much as
30-degrees lower than St. Patrick’s Day’s remarkable 74-degree high, are to shed
another 5 to 10-degrees Thursday, retreating to more seasonable levels--a situation
which repeats Friday. With clear skies, dry air and diminishing winds predicted
Thursday night, the stage is set for temperatures to dive after sunset, reaching the mid
to upper teens in the coldest locations away from the lake.

Despite the downturn, March 2009's average temperature to date is
37.6-degrees--a reading 5 degrees warmer than the same period a year ago and
3.4 degrees above the long-term average. It's a reading that places the
month among the warmest 25 percent of all Marches in the past 139
years. Only eight other years since 1871 have recorded readings as warm as
Tuesday so early in the season. Abnormally early 70s offer no guarantee that
temperatures that warm will return soon. In 1983, after a four-day spell of
70s March 3-6, it took until April 25 for the return of 70-degree
readings. This year looks different. An intense spring storm is to send strong south
winds and a possible new round of 70-degree warmth into the area next Monday and
Tuesday.