NCAA Tournament Starts Today
For some, the most wonderful time of the year begins today – the NCAA Basketball Tournament. And while the games are played inside, we can still have some fun with it!
If you are heading out to Dayton, OH, for the first round, you might want to grab a jacket. Highs today will be set early, then drop with strong north winds gusting to 30 mph. Tomorrow will be a little bit sunnier around town, but with highs only in the mid 40s.
This is how I am going to put my own spin on the games – take a look at the weather back home for the teams traveling to Dayton. Here are the forecasts for the home town of teams that play later today. If the Rebels, Cougars, or Pirates were back home, they would be basking in sunshine with temps in the mid 70s. The only town with a chance of showers would be New York, home of the Jaspers, as well as coolish temperatures.
Taking a look at games tomorrow, all these teams would see sunshine back at home… wait a minute, the Dayton Flyers get to play in Dayton – even at their home arena! Could that be an advantage? We aren’t a sports blog, so I couldn’t tell you. However, both the Ospreys and Broncos would much rather be playing at their home court where temperatures would be a lot warmer.
Record Breaking Heat
If you were in the Central Plains yesterday, chances are you had to turn on the air conditioner! At 20 locations across Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa, highs made it up into the 90s Monday. Above is a map of the warmest location by state. Hill City, KS, made it up to 94 during the afternoon. That, however, was not the warmest spot in the nation – it made it to 99 in Death Valley, CA.
Here were just some of the record highs set yesterday across the nation. Denver saw their earliest 80 on record Monday.
Luckily the need for an air conditioner is short lived as cooler weather has filtered in. Check out the forecast for Sioux City, IA – 90 yesterday, 50 today! And they dropped to 30 this morning – a 60 degree drop in about 17 hours! How’s that for March Madness?
Precipitation Next Few Days
We’re watching for more precipitation over the Northeast and Northwest over the next five days, but some of the heaviest rain will occur over parts of the Deep South and Southeast. There is the potential that places from Texas into Mississippi could see 2-3″ over the next five days. You may remember that some of these areas have already seen heavy rain earlier this month, and this will not help any ongoing river flooding.
NWS expected snow totals through Thursday evening. Image: Weatherbell
Meanwhile, some of that precipitation expected in the Northeast will once again fall as some snow, and it appears some areas of Maine could see a half a foot or more through Thursday evening.
St. Patrick’s Day Highs
Here are your highs across the country for this St. Patrick’s Day! Lots of greens from the northern Rockies into the northeast, while golds paint the central part of the nation.
Have a great Tuesday and St. Patrick’s Day! Go (whatever team you are rooting for in the NCAA tournament)!
Meteorologist D.J. Kayser
Find me on Twitter (@dkayserwx) or on Facebook (Meteorologist D.J. Kayser)