2023–24 winter season ranks as warmest on record for contiguous US

Photo: Geralt // Pixabay

Eight states in the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes, and Northeast each had their warmest winter on record

UTAH — The 2023-24 winter season was the warmest on record for the contiguous U.S., according to a report released Monday by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

During the meteorological winter, December–February, the average temperature in the Lower 48 was 37.6 degrees Fahrenheit, 5.4 degrees above average, making it the warmest winter on the 130-year record, according to the report. Temperatures were above average across most of the contiguous U.S. and close to average along parts of the Gulf of Mexico.

North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Vermont and New Hampshire each had their warmest winter on record.

The average temperature of the contiguous U.S. recorded in February was 41.1 degrees Fahrenheit, 7.2 degrees above average. This was the third warmest February on record, and the warmest on record for Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Missouri.

Despite February ranking in the driest third of historical record with 1.86 inches of precipitation for the contiguous U.S., the winter season overall has ranked in the wettest third of historical record with 7.71 inches of precipitation, 0.92 inch above average.

While the Northern Tier and parts of the Great Lakes, Southwest, parts of the Mississippi Valley and Maine received below-average precipitation, Connecticut and Delaware both had their third-wettest winter season on record.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by NOAA Climate.gov (@noaaclimate)