March 2012: Wam in the U.S/Cool Globally

A warm month of March in the United States led to over 15,000 broken records and the warmest March in the 20th century.  Though the warm weather wasn't seen around the globe.  With the numbers now in, this March was the coolest, globally, since 1999.  Globally March 2012 was the 16th warmest on record, being 0.83°F above the average temperature.

Canada, the contiguous U.S, Mexico, Europe, Argentina, and Peru all had warmer than average temperatures in March.  The areas with cooler than average temperatures included Alaska, Australia, eastern and western Russia and parts of New Zealand.  Norway had its warmest March since records began in 1900, while Australia had its third coolest March maximum temperature since records began in 1950.  The ocean was a bit above average with the sea surface temperature being 0.63°F above the 20th century average.