Warm March Means a Sizzling Summer, Right?

With temperatures marching up into the 80s this upcoming work week, I keep getting asked the same question around the weather department.  It goes along something like this "Since this March is so warm does that mean our Summer season will be brutally hot?"

This inquiry got me thinking so I did some research on the subject.  The results I found may surprise you.

I surveyed the top ten hottest summer seasons and compared them to the warmest March. Plus I compared the numbers to the warmest spring season.  Here are the results:

TOP 10 HOTTEST SUMMERS (average high temperature)

1. 1954 - 97.61 °F

2. 1980 - 96.29 °F

3. 2010 - 96.07 °F

4. 2011 - 95.93 °F

5. 1943 - 95.33 °F

6. 1998 - 95.24 °F

7. 1952 - 94.41 °F

8. 1934 - 94.19 °F

9. 1995 - 93.80 °F

10. 1953 - 93.52 °F

TOP 10 WARMEST SPRINGS (average high temperature)

1. 1986 - 76.64 °F

2. 1963 - 76.51 °F

3. 1977 - 76.20 °F

4. 2010 - 76.20 °F

5. 2007 - 76.03 °F

6. 2006 - 76.03 °F

7. 1967 - 75.97 °F

8. 1964 - 75.39 °F

9. 1925 - 75.30 °F

10. 1986 - 75.23 °F

TOP 10 WARMEST MARCH (avg. monthly high temperature)

1. 2007 - 73.40 °F

2. 1910 - 73.29 °F

3. 1907 - 72.13 °F

4. 1963 - 71.32 °F

5. 1967 - 70.97 °F

6. 1921 - 70.35 °F

7. 1908 - 70.35 °F

8. 1938 - 70.16 °F

9. 1935 - 69.74 °F

10. 1974 - 69.58 °F

After reviewing the climatology information from the National Weather Service in North Little Rock, there was only ONE year where a warm spring season led to a brutally hot summer; that year was 2010.  Otherwise none of the warmest march months matched up with the hottest summers on record.  Needless to say, a warm spring or March does not usually lead to a hot summer.