After that bitter December to February period, Mother Nature owed us one, and she did deliver a rather nice March for Berks County, with five 80-degree days and another all-time top 10 finish in terms of average temperature.
The five days of at least 80 degrees tied for second most in a March with 1990 and 1998, one behind the six recorded in 1945. 1945 has also been the standard to beat by average temperature and many runs have now been taken at its balmy average but none has come close.
Though the temperature bounced around a lot in March — with highs ranging from 83 degrees down to 36, which caused a lot of juggling of summer and winter clothes — in the end warm won.
The March 2026 average of 47.9 degrees comes in at sixth warmest in the record period, which dates to 1898, a bit cooler than March 2025.
“Both of these are well short of the top warmest March of 1945 at 52.4,” said retired meteorologist Jeffrey R. Stoudt of Lincoln Park. “March 2026 edged over the 47.8 average of March 1903. So now, the 5th through 10th warmest Marches are packed tightly from 48.1 to 46.8 degrees.”
The other Marches with at least two 80-degree days, according to the National Weather Service, were four in 1921; three in 1910; and two in 1905, 1977, 2007 and 2025.
“This March was not without some abrupt changes in temperature,” said Stoudt. “The 83 on the 10th occurred after a low of 41 only several hours earlier. Temperature of 41 afternoon of 12th was 40 degrees colder than the 81 of 24 hours earlier. The high of 71 on the 16th was followed by temperature of 35 late evening the same day with wet snow mixing with rain. The region to the near south observed even more drastic changes, including Richmond, Va., where a record high of 89 on the 11th turned to 2 inches of snow within 24 hours later.”
No month exemplifies the warm era we are living in more than March, with seven of the warmest 11 on record in Berks having occurred since 2010.
March 2026 featured four date record highs.
Stoudt continued: “Highs of 83 and 81 on the 10th and 11th surpassed their respective marks of 79 from 2016 and 77 from 2021. Further, warm lows of 53 on the 11th and 59 on the 31st surpassed their respective marks of 51 from 1955 and 57 from 1998.”
Those early month 80-degree days became the fourth and fifth earliest in a year. Those ahead are 82 degrees on Feb. 21, 2018; 81 on March 8, 2000; and 80 on March 9, 2016.
1945 still holds four date records for warmest highs and two for warmest lows. All were different dates.
“There were no close encounters with record lows this March,” Stoudt said. “The 83 on the 31st (no record) tied with 83 on the 10th for the month’s warmest, while the month’s coolest was a modest 22 on the 2nd and 18th.”
And the temperature roller coaster continues into April: The 82-degree high on Saturday set a high temperature mark, knocking off low hanging fruit of 81 degrees from 1921, and now there’s a weather service-issued freeze watch in effect Wednesday from midnight to 8 a.m. for lows in the upper 20s.
Precipitation
Stoudt added that, “Precipitation in the Reading area ended high-end normal at 3.77 inches and was favorably distributed during the month and included only trace amounts of snow or sleet. … . Precipitation over northern Berks County was more substantial, enough for severe drought to improve to moderate, while severe drought persisted over most of southern Berks, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.”
Stoudt said there were only a few traces of snow, and last month became the sixth of the last seven Marches with zero or trace amounts of snow.
“This recent trend was reverse of a contrasting trend during the 2010s when four of those 10 Marches accumulated in the range of 10 to 15 inches of snow,” he said.
Berks March weather
• Temperature: 47.9 degrees
• Normal: 41.5 degrees
• Precipitation: 3.77 inches
• Normal: 3.53 inches
• Records:
Warmest high: 83 degrees on the 10th (79, 2016) and 81 on the 11th (77, 2021)
Warmest low: 53 degrees on the 11th (51, 1955) and 59 on the 31st (55, 1977 and 1998)
10 warmest Marches by average temperature
52.4 degrees: 1945
51: 2012
50.1: 1921
50: 1946
48.1: 2025
47.9: 2026
47.8: 1903
47.6: 2016
47.4: 2010
46.9: 2024
Source: National Weather Service
Monthly precipitation totals from the Berks Area Rainfall Networks in inches:
• Shartlesville, 7.09
• Hamburg, 6.69
• Bernville, 5.69
• Auburn, 6.32
• Strausstown 5.66
• Womelsdorf, 5.56
• Mohrsville, 5.45
• Topton, 4.98
• Frystown, 4.71
• Mohrsville SW, 4.71
• Dryville, 4.62
• Henningsville, 4.46
• Boyers Junction, 4.44
• Wernersville, 4.34
• Boyertown, 4.24
• Muhlenberg Park, 4.22
• Oley Furnace, 4.18
• West Reading, 4.11
• Oley, 4.1
• Bechtelsville NW, 4.09
• Lincoln Park, 4.06
• Bechtelsville, 4.01
• Shillington, 3.99
• New Morgan, 3.98
• Cacoosing, 3.97
• Birdsboro, 3.87
• Lobachsville, 3.79
• Cornwall Terrace, 3.96
• Knauers, 3.67
• Jacksonwald, 3.63
• Quaker Hill, 3.54
• Morgantown, 3.50
• Greenfields, 3.47
• Mohnton, 3.4
• Reiffton, 3.4.