The eastern U.S. experienced a rash of extreme weather in February 2017, from record warmth that has led to the early blooming of trees and plants to severe storms and deadly tornadoes. All of that strange weather brought back memories of one of the weirdest weather months in U.S. history five years ago when similar early-season events unfolded.

(MORE: 6 Strange Things We've Seen in the Past Week )

Persistent record warmth vaulted March 2012 to the most extreme temperature departure from average for any month on record in the Lower 48. It was 8.91 degrees Fahrenheit above the 1901-2000 average, according to NOAA's National Centers For Environmental Information (NCEI). Twenty-five states, all of them east of the Rockies, recorded their warmest March on record.

More than 20,000 warm temperature records were broken across the U.S. in March 2012, including hundreds of monthly records. It was so warm that some places had daily lows warmer than the previous record highs for those dates . The warmth was so extreme that parts of Michigan rose above their average July high temperatures.

As a comparison, 11,000 warm temperature records were set in February 2017, mainly in the central and eastern states, according to preliminary data from NOAA's National Centers For Environmental Information . A number of cities saw a record or near-record warmest February, but we won't know how the month will rank as a whole for the Lower 48 until later in March.

The extreme warmth of March 2012 fueled severe thunderstorms that spawned the fourth most tornadoes for that month (154) in records dating to 1950. The majority of those tornadoes were during a March 2-3 outbreak that killed 40 people in the Ohio Valley and the South.

(MORE: Where March Tornadoes Develop )

A few tornadoes that occurred that month also touched down unusually far north for that time of year. A March 12 tornado in Midland County, Michigan, was the first tornado north of Interstate 96 in that state before March 20 dating to 1950.

Of course, the persistent, mild temperatures also had other impacts, including trees budding and flowers emerging earlier than normal. That would come with a consequence, however, as inevitable cold snaps arrived in April and damaged fruit trees in northern parts of the country .

Pollen counts were astonishingly high and far to the north compared to average. Atlanta had a record pollen count of 9,369 on March 20, 2012 , and pollen levels in Rochester, New York, were double what they normally are for mid-March.

February 2017 was a bit of déjà vu for the eastern half of the country, but for now, March 2012 remains the high bar for abnormal weather so early in the year.

(MORE: Extremes of Winter 2016-17 )

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: February 2017 Tornadoes