ORLANDO, Fla. — It was one of the driest March’s on record for most of Central Florida with the exception of one spot.

Orlando experienced its 13th driest March on record, 10th in Daytona Beach, and seventh in Sanford. All spots finished with less than an inch of rain — that translates to only 15 to 20 percent of normal rainfall.

The only spot to pick up close to normal rainfall was Melbourne. They picked up more than 3 inches of rain, and the average rainfall is 3.28 inches for March.

This isn’t good news because Florida’s wildfire season picks up during the month of April.

April is the driest month of the year for Daytona Beach, Sanford, and Melbourne. It is the fourth driest of the year for Orlando.

Temperatures finished warmer than average for all four spots even with a few shots of cool air.

The warmest spot was Melbourne, where the average monthly temperature was more than two and half degrees warmer than normal. But it was not one of the warmest March’s on record in Melbourne.

The number of mornings with temperatures below 50 degrees fell this March compared to 2018.

Last year there were about a dozen mornings with temperatures cooler than 50 degrees.

This March all the locations only had a few and the most was six mornings. This happened in both Sanford and Daytona Beach.

Here’s a detailed breakdown of how the temperatures and rainfall stacked up for the month.

Orlando

March 2019 AVG. Monthly Temperature: 68.2°
Departure: +1.3°
Number of 80° Days: 16

March 2019 Rainfall: 0.56” > 13th Driest on Record
Departure: -3.21”
Number of Mornings Below 50°: 2

Daytona Beach

March 2019 AVG. Monthly Temperature: 65.8°
Departure: +1.5°
Number of 80° Days: 10                                              

March 2019 Rainfall: 0.88” > 10th Driest on Record
Departure: -3.36”
Number of Mornings Below 50°: 6

Melbourne

March 2019 AVG. Monthly Temperature: 68.5°
Departure: +2.6°
Number of 80° Days: 11

March 2019 Rainfall: 3.07” > Near Average Rainfall
Departure: -0.21”
Number of Mornings Below 50°: 3

Sanford

March 2019 AVG. Monthly Temperature: 67.6°
Departure: +1.0°
Number of 80° Days: 14

March 2019 Rainfall: 0.82” > 7th Driest on Record
Departure: -3.29”
Number of Mornings Below 50°: 6

**Records for Orlando go back to 1892, 1923 in Daytona Beach, 1948 in Sanford and 1937 in Melbourne**