NASHVILLE (AP) - The National Weather Service says March was the warmest on record in Tennessee, from the Mississippi River to the Appalachian Mountains.
Each of the major weather reporting cities averaged at least 10 degrees above normal for the mean temperature - the average of the highest and lowest reading of each day of the month.
"We had the jet stream much farther north (than usual), keeping a lot of warm, moist air in Tennessee," said Jason Wright., an NWS forecaster in Nashville.
There were some cold fronts that brought thunderstorms and some hail, but no strong fronts that significantly dropped temperatures, Wright said.
The most significant deviation from normal was in Nashville, where the month concluded with an average temperature of 61.1 degrees, which was 11.1 degrees above normal.
NWS forecaster Bobby Boyd noted that broke the previous record for the warmest March established in 1907 when the average temper ature was 59.7 degrees.
The average March temperature in Memphis was 68.4 degrees, a plus 10.8-degree deviation.
Chattanooga's reading of 62.9 degrees was 10.8 degrees above normal.
In the Tri-Cities, the monthly mean of 56.9 degrees was 10.2 degrees to the warmer.
Knoxville - with a March mean reading of 60.4 degrees - had a deviation of 10.1 degrees above normal.
The forecast for the first week in April was for temperatures from around 80 degrees to the mid-80s before increased thunderstorm chances later in the week.