Maryland Climate
Top 5 Cities: Baltimore, Columbia, Germantown, Silver Spring, and Waldorf
This month in numbers
Maryland experienced its 5th warmest March on record in 2026, with an average temperature of 9.56°C, a significant 3.5°C above the 1961–1990 baseline. Maximum temperatures for March were also notably high, ranking as the 3rd highest on record at 16.22°C, a full 4.5°C above average. In contrast, precipitation for March was considerably below average, ranking as the 68th driest of 77 years on record with just 57.66 mm, a deficit of 33.5 mm. Globally, April 2026 was the 2nd warmest on record for land temperatures, with a 3-month period from February to April 2026 also ranking as the 2nd warmest.
What changed
Looking at the broader picture, the January–March 2026 period in Maryland saw an average temperature of 3°C, which is 1°C above the 1961–1990 baseline. However, precipitation for this three-month period was also significantly below average, ranking as the 68th driest on record with 60.54 mm, a deficit of 21.8 mm. Maryland's March 2026 average temperature anomaly of +3.55°C placed it 43rd out of 234 regions globally. Within its NOAA Northeast US climate region, Maryland's 1-month anomaly was 1.07°C warmer than the group average, making it the 2nd warmest in the group, just behind Pennsylvania.
What’s driving change?
The unusually warm and dry conditions in Maryland this March are occurring during a Neutral ENSO state, with a weekly Niño 3.4 SST anomaly of +0.9°C. The region has also experienced an unusual concentration of drought events, with two active drought events logged in the past 12 months, representing 100% of the annual total. As of late April 2026, nearly all of Maryland was experiencing some level of drought, with 46% under severe drought conditions. This dry spell has led to below-normal streamflow and groundwater levels in several regions, prompting the Maryland Department of the Environment to issue drought watches and warnings for parts of the state. Additionally, a severe weather outbreak impacted Maryland on March 16, 2026, bringing damaging winds, hail, and tornadoes, with localized flooding reported in Baltimore and wind damage across the state. This event was associated with a powerful extratropical cyclone that also brought a significant blizzard to other parts of North America. More information on active extreme weather events can be found at Extreme Weather tracker.
Generated by Gemini from climate data and web sources
Loading climate data...
Data Sources
Data Sources for Maryland
Every figure on this page is sourced from official, openly published climate datasets. Anomalies are calculated against the 1961–1990 baseline (temperature) and 1991–2020 (rainfall, sunshine, frost) — see the Methodology & Sources page for the complete dataset list and update calendar.
FAQs
FAQs
How is the climate in Maryland changing?
Maryland is warming in line with the rest of the world. The page above shows the latest monthly temperature anomaly versus the 1961-1990 baseline, the long-term annual trend, and the region's rank in the historical record. The trend rate is shown as °C per decade in the headline panel; you can also see the warmest and coolest years on file.
Where does the climate data for Maryland come from?
Climate data for Maryland comes from NOAA Climate at a Glance (temperature and precipitation), refreshed every month, when the upstream temperature and rainfall data are refreshed.
What is the climate baseline used on this page?
Anomalies on this page are calculated against the 1961-1990 climatological baseline, which is the standard reference period used by the Met Office, NOAA, IPCC and most national climate services. Some panels also show the source-native 1901-2000 (NOAA) or 1991-2020 (WMO) baselines for verification. See Methodology & Sources for the full reference.
Which areas does the Maryland climate data cover?
The Maryland climate profile covers Baltimore, Columbia, Germantown, Silver Spring and surrounding areas. Maryland climate data from NOAA Climate at a Glance
How often is the Maryland climate update refreshed?
The Maryland climate update is refreshed monthly, typically a few days after the previous month closes and the upstream provider (Met Office HadUK-Grid, NOAA Climate at a Glance, Copernicus ERA5 or the Global Carbon Project) publishes its update. See the Climate Rankings for cross-region comparisons.