The winter of 2012-13, in many parts of the United States, feels like it will never end. Storm after storm has been rolling across the country producing a profusion of significant snow events. All told, however, this meteorological winter (December-February) was actually warmer than average.
According to NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, this winter season was the 20th warmest winter on record for the contiguous U.S. Posting an average temperature of 34.3°F, the country as a whole was 1.9°F above its long-term norm. For comparison, last winter (2011-12) was the nation’s fourth warmest.
It is interesting to note that eleven of the past fourteen winters in this country have been warmer than average.