Spring 2012 sets numerous records

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - The past three months have been abnormally warm and dry. Daily record high temps have been set as well as monthly records. Now that Meteorological spring is over, it looks as though the spring of 2012 will set records as well.

Meteorological seasons are determined by what month it is. Spring for example is March, April, and May. Each season is three months long. We do this because it’s easier to keep track of seasonal records. Meteorological spring of 2012 will go down as the warmest spring ever and the 2nd driest spring.

Spring started off in a strange way. March was very warm. So warm in fact that March 2012 is now the warmest March ever. We also hit 80 degrees a record 5 times.

April seemed fairly normal, but that’s what made it abnormal. The average temperature for April was actually cooler than that of March. This has only happed one other time since records have been kept!

May set even more records with very warm temperatures and dry conditions. May only had 1.06” of rain, that’s nearly 2.25” below normal. For more numbers and stats on the spring season check out this blog post – Meteorological spring season wrap-up .

So how did the spring season as a whole fair? Spring 2012 will go down as the warmest spring on record and the second driest spring. That's a big difference from the wettest spring last year. So what does this mean for area farmers?

“Farmers are very concerned right now. We're in what's called a low end agricultural drought. The drought monitor considers this a D1 category which is a moderate drought. The reservoir levels are good, the ground weather is good. But the top soils are very dry and our plants are in a stage now where they need moisture in the top layers. So if we don't get some significant rain soon we could be looking at potential losses with crops and lower yields as we go through the summer months” said Sam Lashley from the Northern Indiana National Weather Service .