Helped by sunshine and breezy conditions, temperatures once again topped 70 degrees Monday in South Bend.
We've hit 70 four times already this year, the second most to date on record. The only year that had more was the scorcher that was 2012.
All these warm days have led to some flower stems popping out of the ground across portions of Michiana, too. As temperatures eclipse 50 degrees more consistently, plants have an easier time growing. The amount of "growing-degree days" (a measure of how far from 50 degrees the temperature gets) has increased by about 200 since 1970 in South Bend.
Even with our abundance of 70s this year, the amount of warm spring days hasn't increased much in South Bend over the last 50-plus years. We average 47 days of above-normal temperatures during the spring season.
Cooler temperatures look to return as rain and a few thunderstorms move back into Michiana for the rest of this week.