March 2026 Climate Summary

March 2026 Climate Review:

Temperatures averaged well above normal by 8 to 9 degrees. The entire region observed one of our top 5 warmest March’s on record, with Paducah and Cape Girardeau registering their 2nd warmest. There were only 6 to 7 days that observed below normal temperatures, with the most noteworthy stretch on March 16-17 when highs were only in the 30s and lows dropped down into the upper teens to lower 20s. We observed numerous days with highs reaching the 80s, particularly during the latter half of the month. Highs reached well into the 80s on the 20th through 22nd, 26th, and 31st. Record highs were established at most of our climate sites on these 5 days, including all-time March records in Paducah, Evansville, and Cape Girardeau. The warmest March temperature on record in our 58 county forecast area was broken on March 21st with a reading soaring to 95 degrees in Van Buren, MO (previous March record was 94 in Harrisburg, IL in 1929). There were 25 daily record highs and 14 record warm lows set or tied across our 5 climate stations for the month. Evansville observed 7 days with highs reaching 80, which tied 2012 for the most on record in the month of March.

Precipitation was wetter than normal across the northern half of the region with amounts ranging from 4 to 7 inches, and localized readings over 8”. The highest observed amount in our forecast area was 8.17” at a CoCoRaHS site in Pulaski County Illinois (New Grand Chain 1.1 WNW). Meanwhile, much of southeast Missouri and western Kentucky (particularly those closer to the Arkansas and Tennessee borders) were drier than normal with amounts only in the 1.5 to 3.5” range in these areas. So while the northern half finished anywhere from near normal to 2” wetter than normal, the south tier was 1 to 3” drier than normal. This lead to drought conditions worsening across our southern counties as we moved into early April, with moderate (D1) to severe drought (D2) expanding in these areas.

It was also a very windy month with numerous days with wind gusts reaching 30 to 40 mph and even higher. Paducah registered 213 hours with wind gust of 20 mph or greater. This was the most on record for any month of the year, with hourly wind data available back to 1997 (previous record was 200 hours in March 2025). Evansville also broke their all-time record, with 219 hours with 20 mph or greater gusts (previous record was 190 hours set in March 2025).