March breaks record, becomes hottest and driest month since 1907

LAKE MARY, Fla. - The month of March is going to wind down as the hottest and driest period for Orlando, Sanford, Leesburg and Daytona Beach, according to FOX 35 Chief Meteorologist Glenn Richards.

This will be the hottest month of March since the pre-industrial period of 1907 for Orlando, he said.

The main reason is a shift in our steering flow which has allowed warm/tropical air to blow across Florida. 

Richards says this pattern has been building higher pressures over Florida and east into the Atlantic waters. 

This high-pressure center causes the air to "sink" atop of Florida, which causes drying and heating of the air mass.

This also has pushed the steering jetstream farther north, which has kept all rain-producing storm systems to our north. 

The cold fronts that would normally still sweep the state were weaker due to this jetstream shift north, Richards said.

These weaker fronts will just produce a few sprinkles and no meaningful rainfall. 

He said this pattern looks to continue in the coming weeks.