Warm March

Though we did experience some cool weather last month, March was still warmer and drier than normal. We saw soil temperatures approach 65 degrees a few times. We didn’t have a freeze at Easter. Our satsumas have benefited from this warm weather and are in full bloom now. This helps our neighbor’s peach crop in Brooks County as well. Warm weather has also given us good planting conditions for corn. University of Georgia Extension Climatologist Pam Knox has this update on March temperatures:

March was drier and warmer than normal across Georgia, ushering in projections for a warmer and wetter than normal spring.

In spite of the cold weather in late March, most fruit trees across Georgia were not affected by frost, and a good and flavorful peach crop is expected this year unless a very late frost occurs in April.

The lack of rainfall caused abnormally dry conditions across the state. This allowed farmers to get into the fields to plant and apply chemical, but dry conditions caused some concerns for germinating crops.

Wet conditions in the southwest corner of the state hampered farmers’ ability to work in the fields and led to the development of some fungal diseases by the end of the month.

The outlook for April does show colder temperatures in the beginning of the month, but a return to warmer conditions later. Precipitation is expected to be above normal for the first half of the month, but drier conditions may return in the last two weeks.

Warm March

Georgia saw well above normal temperatures in March, ranging from 3 to 6 degrees above the 1981-2010 average.

• In Atlanta, Georgia, the monthly average temperature was 60.5 degrees Fahrenheit, 6.2 degrees above normal;
• the Athens, Georgia, average was 59.9 F, 5.6 degrees above normal;
• the Columbus, Georgia, average was 61.9 F, 4.1 degrees above normal;
• the Macon, Georgia average was 61.1 F, 4.3 degrees above normal;
• the Savannah, Georgia, average was 65.0 F, 5.8 degrees above normal;
• the Brunswick, Georgia, average was 64.9 F, 4.6 degrees above normal;
• the Alma, Georgia, average was 63.6 F, 3.4 degrees above normal;
• the Augusta, Georgia, average was 60.8 F, 4.9 degrees above normal;
• the Albany, Georgia, average was 63.7 F, 4.5 degrees above normal;
• the Rome, Georgia, average was 56.8 F, 4.7 degrees above above normal;
• the Valdosta, Georgia, average was 64.7 F, 4.6 degrees above normal.

Multiple records for daytime high temperatures were set on March 15 across the state. Atlanta reported 85 F; Athens, 86 F; Alma, 87 F; and Columbus, 87 F, breaking the old records of 82 F, 85 F, 86 F and 86 F, respectively, all set in 2012.

Macon also tied its record of 87 F on the same day, and Augusta, Savannah and Brunswick tied records on or near that date. Brunswick also broke a record high on March 14, recording 84 F, which surpassed the old record of 83 F set in 1975.