High temperatures took a tiny step back on Sunday, but it was still a beautiful and very warm day – this IS still Winter, after all. You’ll be questioning that as we go through this week, because high temperatures will feel more like early Summer – in the low 90’s!
Highs on Sunday were still well above average for March: 77 in Merced & Madera, and 78 in Fresno, Visalia and Hanford. But those are nothing compared to what’s coming this week. We should reach the middle 80’s on Monday, near 90 on St. Patrick’s Day, and low 90’s for the rest of the week after that. Record highs are likely to be broken from Tuesday through Friday, and even Fresno’s all-time hottest March temperature ever (91) is in serious jeopardy.
The high pressure ridge that will be responsible for this heat is truly impressive – thank goodness it’s happening in March, when the days are shorter and the sun still isn’t very high in the sky. If this happened during the longer days of July, when the sun is high in the sky, Valley highs might approach 120…