What's With The Rollercoaster Temperatures? Graph Compares March 2012 and March 2013 Highs So Far

WASHINGTON (WUSA9) -- Many people have been talking about the temperature change this month: one day it feels like 30 degrees and the next day it feels closer to 60 degrees. Is it all in our heads or are we having a rollercoaster of a month? Is it worse than last year at this time?

WUSA 9 Meteorologist Howard Bernstein got the high temperatures  from Reagan National Airport on the first eighteen days from March 2012 through March 2013 via the National Weather Service.

You can see in the graph he created above, there are some drastic temperature differences on the same day a year apart. For example, on St. Patrick's Day (March 17) this year the high was around 45º Fahrenheit. Last year, the high was around 75º Fahrenheit. Howard explained that last year we spent much of the beginning part of the month above average in high temperatures, with several days in the 80s. This year, however, has been cold.

The average high temperature for the month so far is shown in the middle of the graph. You can see it goes from 51º to 57º from March 1 to March 18.

Check out the March High Temperature Data numbers for yourself(courtesy of NWS.NOAA.GOV):

	High Temperatures (F)
Date	Mar 2012	Mar 2013
1	70	46
2	55	39
3	63	44
4	51	46
5	46	53
6	49	41
7	67	52
8	74	52
9	67	62
10	50	63
11	63	62
12	72	60
13	81	52
14	81	47
15	82	59
16	59	61
17	75	43
18	68	40

Learn more and see Howard's forecast for what lies ahead in his blog: http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=249868