--- description: Much of the U.S. should expect higher than average temperatures this spring, federal climate scientists said Thursday. title: Here's What Weather to Expect This Spring image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt808354eee0c6020c/6988bea3656a3ff959bcf2b6/umbrella-rain-spring-weather.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [weather](/tag/weather/) ## weather Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Here's What Weather to Expect This Spring  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Mar 16, 2017 3:52 PM CUT  Rain drops falling from a black umbrella concept for bad weather, winter or protection Rain drops falling from a black umbrella concept for bad weather, winter or protectionBrianAJackson—Getty Images/iStockphoto  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Mar 16, 2017 3:52 PM CUT Much of the U.S. should expect higher than average temperatures this spring with a region stretching from Texas to New England expected to have the most unusually tepid temperatures, federal climate scientists [said](http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long%5Frange/seasonal.php?lead=1 "undefined") Thursday. Forecasters from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) also [warned](http://nws.noaa.gov/oh/2017NHAD.html "undefined") that communities in the midwest, California and southeastern U.S. could be vulnerable to flooding. North Dakota and Idaho face a particularly high risk of flooding as high levels of snow melt coincide with anticipated spring rain. The northern Rocky Mountain range, the northern Great Plains and the Gulf Coast should all expect high levels of precipitation, according to the report. California faces elevated risk of flooding in its Northern and central regions thanks largely to an unusually wet year that broke years of crippling drought in the state. The high water flow has already inundated the state’s infrastructure and experts warn of the potential for more problems. The forecast for above-average spring temperatures follows a winter that ranked as the [sixth hottest](http://www.noaa.gov/news/us-had-2nd-warmest-february-and-6th-warmest-winter-on-record "undefined") on record despite late-season storms. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4703676/spring-2017-weather/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4703676/spring-2017-weather/"},"headline":"Here's What Weather to Expect This Spring","datePublished":"2017-03-16T15:52:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:52:52.185Z","description":"Climate scientists released their weather forecast","url":"https://time.com/4703676/spring-2017-weather/","keywords":["weather","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt808354eee0c6020c/6988bea3656a3ff959bcf2b6/umbrella-rain-spring-weather.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt808354eee0c6020c/6988bea3656a3ff959bcf2b6/umbrella-rain-spring-weather.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"umbrella rain spring weather","caption":"umbrella rain spring weather","creditText":"BrianAJackson—Getty Images/iStockphoto","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/weather/","name":"weather"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4703676/spring-2017-weather/","name":"Here's What Weather to Expect This Spring"}}]}] ```