JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After a very warm February, some major weather changes are possible as we move into March.

The third month of the year may feature more active weather and possibly much cooler weather.

Toasty February

February was undoubtedly a warm one.

Jacksonville International Airport set or broke five records in the month.

St. Simons Island broke the record in February and had seven of the last nine days of the month with record highs.

It turned into a dry month, with 1.42 inches of rain in Jacksonville. This is around half of the average rainfall in February.

The status quo starts in March

It looks like the warm and mostly dry conditions will continue to at least start the month.

Temperatures will remain at near-record levels for the first few days, with a cold front cooling down this weekend.

Next week still looks warm, with above average highs expected.

The 6-10 day outlook from the Climate Prediction Center has above-average temperatures across the region, with near-normal precipitation.

The average high for early March in Jacksonville is in the low 70s.

Transition in mid-March?

There are some strong indications that things may start to change across the country by the middle of the month.

A pattern shift across the country will likely lead to falling temperatures across much of the United States

For our area, we will likely be in a transition phase, with above average temperatures in Northeast Florida and below average temperatures in Southeast Georgia.

Storm tracks may also slide south, resulting in above average rainfall across the region in mid-March.

A chilly end of March

Confidence increases in a below-average end of March across most of the country.

Cold air that has been trapped in Canada will likely plunge across the lower 48, resulting in some big changes. Temperatures below average are expected over almost the entire country at the end of March.

It is unclear whether this cold air will make it all the way into the area.

For now, below average to average temperatures are expected across our region to end the month.

The average high temperature for late March is in the mid to upper 70s.

There is also growing confidence of an active storm track across the East Coast, including Florida and Georgia.

This is likely to continue above average rainfall from mid-March in the region.

While precipitation may ruin some of your spring break plans, the precipitation will be very beneficial as we approach the heart of the brushfire season in April, May and June.

So after a calm and warm February, it’s starting to look likely that March will be a completely different story.