Assessing the U.S. Climate in March 2025

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By ncei.noaa.gov.

Tornadoes in March were more than double the monthly average and three separate outbreaks produced more than 200 tornadoes

Key Points:

  • A multi-day severe weather outbreak in the middle of March caused significant damage across several states from Texas to Tennessee, resulting in multiple fatalities. Two EF-4 tornadoes hit Arkansas on the same day.
  • Wildfires spread across parts of southern Appalachia—burning more than 30,000 acres—driven by strong winds and dry conditions, and exacerbated by the additional fuel available from downed trees following Hurricane Helene.
  • March was the sixth-warmest March on record for the contiguous U.S.

 

Alt text: Map of the U.S. showing locations of significant climate anomalies and events in March 2025 with text describing each event and title at top stating “U.S. Selected Significant Climate Anomalies and Events: March 2025”.

Other Highlights:

Temperature

Map of the United States depicting Mean Temperature Departures from Average for March 2025.

The average temperature of the contiguous U.S. in March was 46.9°F, 5.4°F above average. Generally, March temperatures were above average to much above average across most of the Lower 48, except for parts of California and the Southeast. Kansas had its fourth-warmest March on record (tied with 1946), with Nebraska and Texas recording their fifth warmest.

The Alaska statewide March temperature was 16.7°F, 5.9°F above the long-term average, ranking in the warmest third of the 101-year period of record. Southcentral Alaska and the North Slope experienced much-above-average temperatures during March.

For March, Hawai’i had an average temperature of 64.8°F, 1.3°F above the 1991–2020 average, ranking in the warmest third of the 35-year record. Kaua’i had its warmest March on record (for the 1991–2025 period of record).

For January–March, the average contiguous U.S. temperature was 37.0°F, 1.8°F above average, ranking in the warmest third of the record for this period. Temperatures were near- to above-average across most of the contiguous U.S.

The Alaska January–March average temperature was 14.5°F, 8.6°F above the long-term average, ranking fourth warmest for the first three months of the year.

Hawai’i had its third-warmest (tied with 2004) January–March average temperature of 64.5°F, 1.2°F above the 1991–2020 average for this period.

read more at ncei.noaa.gov.

Image Credits: ncei.noaa.gov.
Image Credits: ncei.noaa.gov.