US has warmest winter in 130-year record

NOAA: Temperatures were more than 5 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than average
Midwest, Great Lakes saw low ice coverage due to warm temps
February was the warmest month on record globally

Updated: Mar 11, 2024 / 01:02 PM CDT

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – FEBRUARY 27: A jogger runs along the downtown Riverwalk during an unusually warm winter day on February 27, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. The 70-degree temperatures are expected to be replaced by wind, rain, hail and the possibility of snow as a cold front pushes into the city later in the evening. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

(NewsNation) — The lower 48 experienced the warmest winter on record in 130 years, according to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.

Some of the coldest states — North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan New York, Vermont and New Hampshire — saw record-setting warmth.

The country as a whole had a temperature that was 5.4°F above average for the season, during the meteorological winter (December-February), NOAA reports, beating the winter of 2015-2016 for the title.

Record-warm temperatures were seen across much of the Mississippi Valley and in parts of the Great Lakes and Southern Plains, but Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri each had their warmest February on record, NOAA found.

In February, Alaska was 10.3°F warmer than average. It was also the hottest February on record globally and the ninth-straight warmest month the planet has seen, according to Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Persistent above average temperatures across the Midwest and Great Lakes led to 2.7% lake ice coverage on Feb. 11, the lowest on record for that time of year, NOAA found.