In fact, the Iditarod shipped in trainloads of snow just so they could pull off the ceremonial start to the annual race.
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This winter was one for the record books. That breaks the record set in 1999-2000.
The average temperature for the Lower 48 states from December through February – the period known as meteorological winter – was 36.8 degrees Fahrenheit, 4.6 degrees above normal. It was so hot that two Vermont ski resorts, accustomed to 250 inches of prime powder, closed last month for lack of snow.
According to NOAA’s latest regular “State of the Climate” report, this winter was the warmest on record in the United States.
In Hawaii, the winter was marked by extreme dryness, as the Aloha State endured its driest winter on record. The opposite happened in Iowa, which experienced it wettest, measured in rain and melted snow.
While skiers and mushers suffered, consumers benefited from lower heating bills.
Information out from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirms what many probably already knew: It was a really warm winter. By comparison, the winter of 2014-15 was 6 to 7 degrees colder than this past winter.
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Federal meteorologists say this winter was the warmest in USA record, thanks to the combination of El Niño and man-made global warming. The weather pattern comes with warm ocean temperatures in the eastern and central tropical Pacific Ocean, the Post explained. The records go back to 1895.
