Old Rocks
Diamond Member
The U.S. is having its sixth-warmest winter on record, according to data from the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), which has records back to 1895.
For the first two weeks of February, while chilly weather enveloped the northeastern U.S. and record snow buried New England, practically the entire western half of the nation was seeing phenomenal, record warmth.
How warm? So far this month, there have been 4,074 records set for warm temperatures —- mostly in the West — and only 236 records for cold temperatures, the NCDC reported.
Records for warm temperatures have been set in Seattle, San Jose, Las Vegas, Reno, Salt Lake City and Butte, Mont.
In Salt Lake City, the average temperature in February is a whopping 16.4 degrees above average, AccuWeather said. Other warm spots include Boise (12.2 degrees above average) and Phoenix (8 degrees above average).
The lack of cold and snow is exacerbating California's severe drought. California's snowpack (snow water equivalent) is currently only 27% of normal, according to the California Department of Water Resources.
Ski areas across the West have struggled to stay open this winter because of the lack of snow. "We are temporarily closed until the next storm comes in," the Mount Shasta Ski Area in California said on its website.
Nationally it s been one of the warmest winters on record
Wider and wilder swings with an overall warming. Still happening.