Santa Cruz Weather Cooler Than Normal, While Most of the Country Heats Up

March heat shattered records across most of the U.S., according to Accuweather.com and a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, while keeping Santa Cruz County in a patch of cooler climates.

Local numbers are taken at Watsonville and Monterey Airports. Watsonville was 1.3 degrees above the normal 54.5 degrees for March and Monterey was 0.3 degrees below the usual average of 52.9 degrees, but still decidedly cooler than the rest of the country.

"It's due to the troughs and ridges," said Accuweather meteorologist Ken Clark, based in Los Angeles. "If there is a ridge causing warm weather in the eastern half of the country, there is more than likely a compensating trough on the West Coast. Usually a ridge doesn't cover the whole country. If it was really warm out here, it is probably cooler somewhere else."

The average temperature across the U.S. was 8.6 degrees above the previous averages during the 20th Century and every state in the country had at least one day of record high temperatures in March.

The Northeast had its warmest March in 118 years, averaging 44.4 degrees, or 9.8 degrees above average.

The Midwest had its warmest March on record and the Southeast set records for number of days over 80 degrees. In the South, Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Tennessee had their warmest March since records started in 1895.

The West was the coolest region, but had some high temperatures. Long Beach hit a record high of 91 on March 4.