It’s been a rough winter for those living in the Northeast. Boston, for example, recently received 108.6 inches of record snowfall. However, on a global scale, this is hardly the case. In fact, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration just announced that, as a whole, this has been the hottest winter on record.
This news comes as a surprise to New Yorkers, New Englanders, and the like. Although the Equinox is tomorrow, they are not convinced that winter is over, as they brace for potentially more snow this coming weekend. The new record, however, surpasses the winter of 2007 by just 0.05°F, as temperatures across the world were 1.48°F above the 20th century average.
While the winter has been the warmest on record, February alone has been the second warmest February in history. Globally, during the month, land surface temperature and sea surface temperature was 3.02°F and 0.92°F above the 20th century average, respectively.
However, and perhaps ironically due to the warmth, the snow cover extent during the month of February was 230,000 square miles above the average from 1981-2010, only for the Northern Hemisphere. Eurasia had its 9th smallest snow cover this February, while North America had its 20th largest snow cover.
Useful maps and graphics can be found on the National Climactic Data Center’s website, here.
The statewide contrasts in temperatures this past winter were even more severe than the global comparison. Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, and a few other states experienced pretty standard winters in comparison to history. Most of the eastern U.S., and the entire Northeast, on the other hand, experienced temperatures below the normal average.
However, from Nebraska reaching west, not only did all of the states experience significantly warmer temperatures than normal, but five states had their record warmest winters ever. As many are aware, California (one of the five), has been experiencing a serious drought for some time. They recently concluded that the state has only a little more than one year of water supply left in the reservoirs.
These contrasting temperatures certainly don’t ease the frustrations northeasterners have about the brutal winter recently endured, but they do call into question the reality and presence of climate change. Scientists will now spend time attempting to discover why such a small fraction of the globe is experiencing significant cooler temperatures, while northeasters will spend time thinking about if they want to move to a new part of the world.
