In like a lion, out like a lamb? We hope so!
March kicks off with grey, windy day – maybe a gentle spring is ahead!
Looking outside on Wednesday, we couldn’t help but be reminded of that old saying, “March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb.”
Wednesday in Yuma was certainly a day of wild weather, complete with unusual gray skies, a little rain and some wind. Was it a lion? It certainly was a little fiercer than our weather generally is!
Will the lion/lamb adage hold true for Yuma? We can only hope.
Here’s what we do know. In March, our average high for the month is 80. By April, that number creeps up to 87 degrees, and in May, we’re pushing 95. In June, our average high is in the triple digits – 104 degrees, according to Usclimatedata.com.
The National Weather Service reports Yuma usually hits its first 100 degree day of the year around April 25 – and readers, that date will be here before we know it.
Our average high temperature is 67.5 degrees on March 1, and on Wednesday, we were expected to hit 65. As of 1:30 p.m., it was 62 outside, so we’re below average, but not by much.
Going forward, our daily temperature might fluctuate a little every day, but once mid-may rolls around, we’re on a steady march into summer, and we know that heat rarely abates again until some time in October.
(According to the National Weather Service, the last 100 degree day on average hits on Oct. 6).
And look at what happens once summer really hits. Yuma’s average number of days at 100 degrees or higher is 118 days annually, although in 2020, we had 148 days at 100 or higher (which set a record, by the way).
And fun fact – or maybe depressing fact – Yuma averages 25 days a year that are 110 degrees or higher.
We do know that March can be full of surprises. Just like the rest of the nation, Yuma in March can mean high winds and cold temperatures, or it can pack the heat. In fact, the earliest 100 degree day in Yuma was recorded on March 12, 1916.
We hope that this year, our windy, gray start to the month ends with the sweet weather of a lamb: gentle, warm days easing us into spring!