Record-breaking heat sweeps region as multiple cities shatter March highs

SIDNEY, Neb. — A surge of unseasonably hot air rewrote the record books across the Nebraska Panhandle, northeast Colorado and southeast Wyoming this week, with multiple cities setting new all-time March temperature records.

According to the National Weather Service, Saturday marked the warmest March day ever recorded in Alliance, Chadron, Cheyenne, Laramie, Rawlins, Scottsbluff, Sidney and Torrington. Many of those communities reached the low 90s, shattering previous records by several degrees.

In Sidney, the temperature climbed to 91 degrees, breaking the previous March record of 85 degrees. Scottsbluff also hit 92 degrees, surpassing a record that had stood since 1943. Chadron reached 92 degrees, while Alliance recorded 91.

The heat extended into southwest Nebraska, where Imperial saw three consecutive days of record-breaking temperatures. On Saturday, Imperial reached 95 degrees, breaking a record of 87 degrees set in 1907, according to the National Weather Service in North Platte.

Late March temperatures in the region typically range in the 50s to low 60s.

The unseasonably warm and dry conditions have also contributed to elevated fire danger across the region, as crews continue to respond to ongoing wildfire activity at the Morrill Fire and Cottonwood Fire.

"This heat is likely to break many long-standing records from over a century ago across the area," the National Weather Service in Omaha, Nebraska, said.

All evacuation orders were lifted in areas affected by Nebraska's Cottonwood and Morrill fires, which have burned more than 1,200 square miles (3,118 square kilometers) for days but are largely contained, the state Emergency Management Agency said. The areas are dominated by range and grassland.

A cold front moving through the region is expected to bring temperatures back to near seasonal levels Sunday, with highs around 59 degrees under mostly sunny skies.