Summer in March for the Midwest

The ongoing March heat wave in the Midwest is one of the most extreme heat events in U.S. history. With so many records being shattered, it is difficult to cover in detail just how widespread, long-lasting, and extreme the event is, and I offer just a few highlights:
Winner, South Dakota hit 94F yesterday, the earliest 90+ reading ever recorded in the Northern Plains.
International Falls, Minnesota hit 79F yesterday, the hottest March temperature on record in the Nation’s Icebox.
Houghton, Michigan, near the frigid shores of Lake Superior, hit 76F both Saturday and Sunday. It was the hottest March temperature on record, and an astonishing 44F above the average high for the date.
Chicago, Illinois now has a string of five consecutive days of 80+ temperatures, and the hottest temperature on record for so early in the year (82F on Friday, and tied again on Saturday).