(KXNET) -- It may seem strange, but for several hours earlier this week, Bismarck was colder than part of Mars, putting a fitting interplanetary touch to the record-breaking arctic freeze that gripped the state recently.
And it makes the following news all the more promising in that the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center thinks March through May 2025 will be around normal in the Midwest, bringing more seasonable weather to chilly North Dakotans.
Of course, this is the weather service's best guess for the next three months, based on data going back to 1981. How well it will match reality will come when we actually experience March, April and May.
But for now, the prediction is that North Dakota temperatures have an equal chance of leaning above or below normal during the next 90 days. Precipitation also looks to lean above or below normal March through May.
The long polar air outbreak peaked Wednesday, February 19 in terms of intensity and breadth of the United States, said National Weather Service meteorologist Andrew Orrison of the Weather Prediction Center.
And it made for some interesting comparisons.
On Monday, February 17, Bismarck had a high of -11 degrees. That same day, the Gale Crater on Mars warmed up to a high of -4 degrees, Maue said, making Bismarck -- at least for several hours -- the interplanetary cold spot between two measured locations.
But then, the overnight lows were no comparison: The Martian Gale Crater hit -107 degrees while Bismarck enjoyed lows only in the -20s.
But, come March through May, Mars won't be able to compete with the warm weather coming to North Dakota.