"Great Lakes Region Breaks Records with Unprecedented Warmth"

Detroit, Buffalo, and Cleveland set record highs in the 70s as warm air swarmed the Great Lakes, with more than 200 warm-weather records occurring in the early days of March. The warm, humid air could fuel strong thunderstorms from Houston to Chicago, and the lack of cold in Canada is attributed to human-caused climate change and the El Niño climate pattern. Snow cover in the contiguous United States remains near a record low, and ice cover on the Great Lakes is at its lowest level since records began in 1973. The springlike weather pattern is expected to continue with above-average temperatures through mid-month, although occasional bouts of chillier weather are probable.