Weather Insider: Spring is warming across the US

Meteorological spring began earlier this month on March 1st. Spring is a season of warming all across the US, but spring itself has gotten significantly warmer for many places since the 1970s. This warming has been most strongly felt in the southern tier of the country, and especially here in the Southwest. The only areas that haven't seen warming are in some spots in the far northern, interior states.

Here in the Coachella Valley, spring temperatures have warmed by just shy of 3° (2.9° to be exact). That's a fairly stark change in temperatures over a relatively short period of time.

We also now experience far more days throughout the season that are warmer than average. Compared to the 1970s we experience about 19 more of those days. Aside from just having warmer weather, there are some big consequences of this. A warmer spring essentially shortens the wet season and extends the dry season. This puts more strain on California's water supply as the demand for water grows and takes up more time throughout the year.