Mid-Atlantic Climate Impacts Summary and Outlook: Spring 2021

MARISA Mid-Atlantic Regional Climate Summary map and title

The Mid-Atlantic region experienced generally warm and dry weather in spring, while this year's hurricane season outlook shows an above-average probability of major hurricanes.

Read more about regional climate trends, the upcoming summer season, and explore flooding in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania under historic and future climate, in the latest MARISA Seasonal Climate Impacts Summary and Outlook.

Highlights

Temperatures were above normal across the Mid-Atlantic, with much of the region experiencing temperatures up to 0–2 degrees Fahrenheit above normal and some locations in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York experiencing some of their warmest spring months on record.
It was generally dry across the region, with much of Virginia experiencing 50–75% of normal rainfall. Only a small portion of the watershed, primarily in southern New York, experienced above normal (100–125%) precipitation.
Warm and dry weather across the region was further underscored by low March snowfall, particularly in Scranton, Williamsport, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Binghamton, New York; Baltimore, Maryland; and Washington, D.C.
The 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Outlook forecasts an above-average probability for major hurricanes for the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, with NOAA predicting 13–20 named storms, six to ten hurricanes, and three to five major hurricanes.
A case study of urban flooding in Pittsburgh shows substantially greater rainfall depths and resulting flooding associated with precipitation events estimated with future climate model data than under Atlas 14 estimates.

Read the Climate Summary

The MARISA Seasonal Climate Impacts Summary and Outlook is a seasonal series produced by NOAA’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments program that details seasonal weather and climate variability and change in the Mid-Atlantic region.

MARISA is led by the non-profit RAND Corporation, in partnership with researchers in Penn State University’s Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, and Johns Hopkins University, along with support from researchers in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University, and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.