While winter brought us record-breaking heat, spring was quite an odd child this year. 

March gave us some summerlike warmth but, as spring progressed, L.A. actually got cooler and cooler.

The National Weather Service this weekend declared that Los Angeles experienced a “reverse meteorological spring” this year. Forecasters say that while a normal spring gets progressively warmer (despite our customary bouts of cloud-generated June gloom), this year's weather went in the opposite direction.

We ended up with a May that was cooler than March. The NWS said in a statement:

This has not occurred in nearly 100 years … since 1921 … and is only the third time it has happened since records began in 1877. The other two years in which this occurred were 1914 and 1921.

The service is basing this on its downtown L.A. records. In March the average monthly temperature was 68.2 degrees; in April it was 65.8; and in May it was 64.2, according to the NWS.

Thirty-year monthly averages downtown are 60.6 for March, 63.1 for April and 65.8 for May.

Credit: David Brooks/Flickr

Credit: David Brooks/Flickr

Many parts of Southern California experienced the same reverse spring, forecasters say.

Although summer doesn't officially begin until June 21, the day of the year with the most possible sunlight, the months of March, April and May constitute the NWS' definition of a “meteorological spring.”

The NWS says it will release more data on our strange spring tomorrow.

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