Spring Differences Between 2025 Vs. 2024
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Spring 2025 is arriving,and its temperatures and precipitation could have some similarities and differences with what happened one year ago.
It's hard to believe given the recent siege of bitter cold and six winter storms,but meteorological spring arrives this weekend as the calendar turns to March.
Based on the latest spring outlook issued by The Weather Now 24 and Atmospheric G2,here are five things we noticed that could contrast or match up fairly well with what happened last spring.
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1. Most Anomalous Warmth In South
As you can see in the map below,we expect the southern half of the national to have temperatures most above average from March through May. That's particularly the case from the Southern Plains into the Desert Southwest,shown by the dark maroon and purple contours.
Last spring was warmer than usual in the South. But the anomalous warmth was much more spread out,with a maximum in the Great Lakes,as the map below from NOAA indicates.
Five states had their second warmest spring in 130 years - Arkansas,Kentucky,Ohio,Virginia and West Virginia,according to NOAA.
2. Another Wet Spring In The Midwest
The Midwest,particularly the Great Lakes,is the area where our confidence is highest for a wet March through May 2025,as the dark green area on the map below indicates.
That's generally how spring 2024 ended up.
Both Iowa and Wisconsin had their third wettest springs on record last year.
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3. Much Drier In Louisiana,Texas
Another feature you may have noticed in the outlook map above was a pronounced tongue of a drier than average spring forecast from parts of the northern Gulf Coast into the Desert Southwest,including much of Louisiana and Texas.
That's a stark contrast to what happened last April and May. Parts of north and east Texas into western Louisiana were inundated with 1 to 2 feet of rain,which pushed rivers and bayous above flood stage for weeks around the Houston metro area.
4. More Expansive West Drought Headed Into Spring
Spring 2025 will kick off with a more expansive and severe drought in parts of the Plains and West than one year ago.
As the comparison map below shows,the highest levels of drought as of mid-February are more widespread from parts of Texas to the Desert Southwest. Some second highest drought levels are also in place over parts of the northern High Plains of Wyoming,western Nebraska,the western Dakotas and Montana.
And given the dry outlook we discussed earlier,NOAA's Climate Prediction Center predicted that drought could either persist or expand this spring in the West and Plains. That expansive drought could set the stage for a dangerous,more expansive summer of wildfires in the West.
5. Northwest Cooler,Wetter Trend Could Change
Overall,spring 2024 was about average for temperatures,and only a little drier than average in the Northwest.
This spring,we expect a chilly and somewhat wetter March from Oregon and Washington into parts of Idaho.
Even though the Northwest's precipitation typically tails off later in spring as it heads toward its summer dry season,this late spring could even be drier than usual.
And that could eventually raise wildfire concerns by summer once vegetation dries out.
Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at www.weathernow24.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on X (formerly Twitter),Threads,Facebook and Bluesky.
