March 2026 ranks as hottest since records started 130+ years ago

After thousands of new high temperature records were set across the lower 48 states, March 2026 concluded as the warmest March over 132 years, federal records show.

The average temperature was 50.85 degrees, which is 9.35 degrees above the 20th century average and marks the very first time any month’s average has been more than nine degrees above that baseline, NOAA’s monthly summary report said.

Boosted by months of record-breaking temperatures, March also concludes a 12-month period that stands as the warmest 12 months ever recorded across the country, according to information published this week by the National Centers for Environmental Information, under the umbrella of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

More than 500 counties experienced their warmest March on record. More than 1,400 counties, more than half the continental U.S. area and one-third of the population, saw their single warmest March day on record, dating back to 1950.

It was warm across much of the West, where a persistent high-pressure system kept the heat on and the precipitation low, but daily and monthly records also were set well into the eastern half of the United States. Ten states across the West and Southwest were their warmest on record.

The warm daily high temperatures averaged 11.4 degrees higher than the March average, and nearly a full degree above the April long-term average.

In total, weather observation stations around the country broke 1,924 monthly high maximum temperature records in March and tied 682 records, according to NOAA data. Temperatures at the stations also broke 10,763 daily record highs.

And that’s only the beginning, some climate scientists are warning. Computer models are indicating the El Niño expected to form in the Pacific Ocean could be a strong one, and could force temperatures around the globe even higher.