The nation experienced its warmest winter in more than a century of keeping records, the government said Tuesday.
The months of December to February, often called “meteorological winter,” averaged 36.8 degrees Fahrenheit for the lower 48 states, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The average temperature was 0.3 degrees above the last record-breaking year of 1999–2000 and 4.6 degrees above the 20th century’s average.
The agency attributed the temperature to a particularly strong El-Nino phenomenon in the Pacific and not to climate change. February’s temperature was also above average, at 39.5 degrees.
