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This graphic shows the temperature departure from normal for March 2014. You can see the darkest blue area signifies the departures farthest from normal. Michigan had the largest departures from normal of any region on the globe.

(National Climatic Data Center)

This March 2014 here in Michigan sure was unpleasant. It was very cold as far as Marches go. We now know that we suffered the most from cold of any region in the world.

The top graphic shows the departure from normal temperatures for March 2014. The pink and red colors are temperatures above normal. The blue-purple shades are where temperatures averaged below normal in March.

Michigan is the darkest of blue, meaning record or near record cold in March. And we are pretty much alone in the cold deviation. A large area in Canada is shaded in medium blue, and the eastern U.S. is shaded in light blue. These colors represent temperatures that were cooler to much cooler than average. As you scan the rest of the globe, there were large areas of warmer than normal temperatures. In fact, most of the globe was warmer than normal in March 2014.

Globe was real warm in March

The map shows the temperature departures from normal for the globe. Visually you can see most of the area on the globe was warmer than normal. March 2014 was actually the fourth warmest March in the last 135 years, according to the National Climatic Data Center report. Globally the temperature averaged 1.28 degrees Fahrenheit above the century average.

If you don't like colder than normal temperatures, you were in the wrong place for March. But at least we now can justify all the complaining we've been doing recently.

If you have any comments, or want to complain more about our Michigan weather, let it all out in the comments section below.

MLive Meteorologist Mark Torregrossa has been forecasting Michigan weather for more than 20 years. He's been chief meteorologist at three television news stations in Michigan, and he's an avid gardener and hunter. Email him at mark@farmerweather.com and find him on Facebook at facebook.com/mark.torregrossa and Twitter @weathermanmark