Texas in March is supposed to mean bluebonnets, mild afternoons, and the slow exhale after a long winter. This year, it’s meant something else entirely.
Across the state in March 2026, Texans have been whipsawed by a climate that can’t seem to make up its mind — bitter cold snaps in the north, record-flirting heat just days later, and a drought grinding deeper into the southern reaches of the state. It’s a month that has underscored, in stark terms, just how volatile Texas weather has become — and how unevenly that volatility is being felt.
From Freezing Nights to Mid-80s Heat
Start with Dallas. On the morning of March 17, conditions were described as “very cold” — and for good reason. Temperatures had dropped to 37.9°F, with a bone-dry dew point of 15.1°F and relative humidity sitting at just 39%. Winds were calm, skies were clear, and visibility stretched beyond 10 miles. Beautiful, in a punishing kind of way. The cold was recorded in the latest historical weather data for the city.
But that’s only part of the story. North Dallas, in the same month, saw highs climbing into the mid-80s — a swing of nearly 50 degrees from those frigid overnight lows in the upper 30s. That kind of range isn’t just uncomfortable. It strains infrastructure, confuses agriculture, and catches residents off guard. AccuWeather tracked the full temperature arc across the month.
Just to the northeast, in Richardson, the picture was similarly dramatic. Highs reached 87°F on certain dates, while lows on other nights fell to 37°F. A 50-degree spread within a single month, in a single city. AccuWeather’s local data showed the full range of March readings for the suburb.
Historically, Texas in March is supposed to be temperate — a transitional month. Long-range climate data suggests average temperatures typically fall between 10°C and 19°C (roughly 50°F to 66°F), with anywhere from three to eight rainy days expected. This March has repeatedly tested the outer edges of that envelope — and, on some days, blown right past it.
Down South, a Different Kind of Crisis
How bad is it in the southern reaches of the state? Worse than most headlines have captured.
While North Texas was oscillating between cold snaps and unseasonable heat, Deep South Texas has been quietly suffering through one of its most severe drought periods in recent memory. According to federal climate assessments, Extreme Drought — classified as D3 — conditions are being observed over 20% of Deep South Texas, including parts of the Upper Valley and the Northern region. The finding covers the January through March 2026 period and represents a significant deterioration in an area already prone to water stress.
“Extreme Drought (D3) conditions are being observed over 20% of Deep South Texas, including parts of the Upper Valley and the Northern,” the National Weather Service outlined in its Rio Grande Valley seasonal outlook. That’s not a regional footnote — D3 is the second-most-severe drought classification on the U.S. Drought Monitor scale, just one step below “Exceptional.” Crop losses, water restrictions, and long-term soil damage are all on the table.
Still, the drought hasn’t generated the same wall-to-wall attention as a cold snap or a heat record. Drought is slow. It doesn’t make for dramatic footage. But it compounds — and right now, it’s compounding fast in a part of Texas that can least afford it.
A State at Weather Extremes, Simultaneously
That’s the catch. Texas isn’t experiencing one extreme weather story this March — it’s experiencing several at once, in different regions, pulling in different directions. The north is cold, then blazing. The south is parched. And the middle is somewhere in between, watching both and wondering what’s next.
It’s a pattern that climate scientists have long warned about: not simply a warming trend, but an intensification of variability. More dramatic swings. Less predictability. More stress on systems — agricultural, municipal, human — that were built for a more stable climate that may no longer exist.
March isn’t over yet. But it’s already said plenty.
