NOAA Confirms: U.S. February, And Whole Winter, Was Insanely Warm

Winter in the United States was the warmest on record.
States shown in dark red with the number 129 had their
warmest winter on record. Dark orange states were
much warmer than average and light orange states
were moderately warm, compared to average.

We certainly weren't the only ones here in Vermont who had the warmest winter on record.  

We recently got confirmation - as if we needed it - that the U.S. winter was toastiest on record. 

FEBRUARY DATA

The year without a U.S. winter was driven in large part by an absolutely insane February in large sections of the nation. 

February was the nation's third warmest on record out of the past 130 years. Combined with a somewhat warm January and a superheated December, the United States ended up having what was easily the warmest winter on record, says NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information. 

Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin had their warmest February on record. Eighteen other states, including Vermont, had one of their top five warmest Februaries on record. 

February for most of the nation was dry.  Most areas away from the flooded and snowed under West Coast and Rocky Mountains had a break from the storminess of December and January. 

No states had their driest February but several came very close. Five states - Illinois, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine - had their second driest February out of the past 130 years of record. 

So much for February. What about winter as a whole?

HOT WINTER

The winter of 2023-24 averaged 37.6 degrees for the Lower 48.  That was 0.82 degrees above the previous record  for the hottest winter set in 2015-16. That doesn't sound like a wide margin. But if you take in all those states, all those weather stations over those 91 days of meteorological winter, that margin is enormous. 

It turns out it was the biggest margin from one year to next warmest year in the entire 129 year database of winter temperatures. 

The individual states that reported the warmest winter on record are usually known for their winter chill. The states that enjoy or endured their warmest winter on record were North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Vermont and New Hampshire. 

It looks like 29 additional states had one of their top ten warmest winters on record.

It won't be just the United States that had the warmest winter on record. The world as a whole will almost certainly turn out to have had the toastiest winter in memory.  Complete information was just coming out on Thursday, and I'll have an update on that soon. 

Meanwhile, back here in the United States, The first half of March has been warm in most states.  This won't be the hottest March on record. That honor for most of the Lower 48 goes to the insane month of March, 2012.

But despite some incursions of chilly air expected from Canada in different parts of the United States, meteorological spring is off to a rather toasty start, too.