Plymouth State University’s 2012 Spring Break saw a streak of unseasonably warm weather. Temperatures exceeded 80degrees multiple times. Normally, PSU students travel to warmer areas during the break, but with the weather Plymouth saw during the week of Mar. 19, students might not have needed to go very far for some rays.
In the past, the average temperatures for the month of March have been in the low 40’s, but last week’s unusual weather shattered the record temperatures of 1998. Temperatures in 1998, during the same week rose no higher than 68degrees, with an all-time high for the month of March being 79degrees. This record was broken last week, which “set a 5-day record of smashing warmth” says Dr. Eric Hoffman, professor of meteorology at Plymouth State University. Hoffman appeared on WMUR on Mar. 21 to discuss the unseasonable heat.
This winter has been very different from what is normally expected. This season was unusually dry and warm. There are normally a number of Nor’ Easter’s that make their way up the east coast. But this year, due to the position of a jet stream, the storms were not able to make their way up, but instead moved in a different direction, creating a “below normal level of precipitation,” says Hoffman.
There is no sole explanation as to why this odd weather is occurring, but there are a few theories that can shed some light on what is going on.
“There are cycles that we go through both globally and locally,” said Hoffman, which can affect what weather we will have. The position of the jet stream is another reason the weather may be different than what we normally expect; moving further north early in the season could be the reason why the weather was warmer than it’s supposed to be at this time of the year.
Global warming has been suggested as a cause for this year’s mild to warm weather here in the United States we have had a warm dry season. However, “over in Eastern Europe, their winter has been one of the coldest and snowiest,” said Hoffman. If global warming were the culprit, temperatures in Eastern Europe would reflect what we see in the United States currently, and would have to have been a trend that covered the course of a few years.
As for the upcoming months, it’s hard to say what to expect. Predicting the weather and weather patterns isn’t an exact science, contrary to popular belief. The upcoming summer could result in staggering heat, “or it could shift to normal summer weather,” says Hoffman. “It’s hard to tell if we’re going to have a blazing hot summer or not.”