IRON MOUNTAIN — Wet weather has erased a moderate drought in Dickinson County and most surrounding counties, though it’s still dry to the west in Gogebic County and northern Wisconsin.

Statistics from the Iron Mountain-Kingsford Wastewater Treatment Plant show March was the third-wettest this century locally and eighth-wettest since record-keeping began in 1899.

Snowfall for the month totaled 21.4 inches, about 11 inches above average. Water-equivalent precipitation measured 3.43 inches, more than double the norm for the month.

The wettest March on record was in 2004 at 4.08 water-equivalent inches. The second-wettest this century was in 2022 at 3.65 inches.

The heavy March snowfall raised this season’s total to 48 inches by month’s end, which is about a foot less than average. The water-equivalent precipitation total at Iron Mountain-Kingsford for the March 30-31 ice storm was 1.04 inches, of which 4.5 inches was snow.

Despite recent events, abnormally dry conditions persist in western Iron County and western Florence and Forest counties in Wisconsin. Gogebic County and bordering counties in Wisconsin are in moderate drought, the U.S. Drought Monitor shows.

As spring stays reluctant, temperatures may climb into the 50s by the middle of next week. AccuWeather sees a steady warming into the 60s by late April.

In its three-month outlook, the National Weather Service slightly favors above-normal temperatures for the Dickinson County area through June. The precipitation outlook is neutral.

Temperatures in March averaged 31.6 degrees at Iron Mountain-Kingsford, which was 3.6 degrees above normal. The highest reading was 64 degrees on March 10 — a record for that date — and the lowest was 3 degrees on March 8.

A high of 57 degrees on March 9 was also a record. Twenty of the 31 record highs for each of March’s individual dates have been set during this century.

NWS’s long-range forecast comes as La Nina conditions are transitioning to neutral. La Nina, a periodic cooling of the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, typically delivers higher precipitation to the U.P.

Cold but calm weather locally this weekend stands in sharp contrast to the central U.S., where severe weather and torrential rains have led to 200 flood warnings spanning at least 14 states.