Spring Weather Forecast

March is here and there is no change to what we have been expecting. It is shaping up to be an earlier than normal planting season.

March will be much warmer than normal thanks to El Nino. Temperatures will average 5F+ above normal for much of the month.

Rainfall will be more uneven with normal or slightly above normal in western areas and normal to below normal in eastern areas. Rainfall averages 3-4 inches normally in March.

4 inch soil temperatures will run above normal and will reach above 50 and stay there 1-2 weeks earlier than normal this spring.

April is shaping up to be warmer and drier than normal.

Historically in strong El Nino springs, we do not see late freezes but more normal last freeze dates. However, if the warmer weather causes things to start growing earlier there is a risk of a normal last hard freeze could still cause impacts.

Finally evapotranspiration rates will be above normal this spring due to the warmer weather.

The latest NOAA/NWS/Ohio River Forecast Center 2-week rainfall outlook is shown below...

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