NOAA Climate Data

New federal data show March 2026 delivered the most abnormally hot month ever recorded for the contiguous United States in 132 years of records, with an average temperature of 50.85°F—9.35°F above the 20th‑century March norm and surpassing the old anomaly record set in March 2012. NOAA reports that April 2025 through March 2026 was also the warmest 12‑month period on record for the Lower 48, and that this January–March stretch was the driest such period ever observed nationally, a combination meteorologists warn is dangerous for water supplies, agriculture and river navigation. Climate Central and other researchers say more than one‑third of the country experienced late‑March heat that would have been virtually impossible without human‑driven climate change, with roughly 19,800 daily heat records and over 2,000 monthly records broken. Scientists are now warning that a projected “super” El Niño, with Pacific sea‑surface temperatures potentially exceeding 2°C above normal, could push global heat to new records in late 2026 and 2027. The string of shattered records is fueling fresh concern among U.S. climate and weather experts that the country is entering a more extreme heat regime with mounting economic and public‑health consequences.