Yet more temperature records broken, this time over winter in the 48 contiguous US states, as reported Friday by meteorologist Bob Henson in Yaleclimateconnections.org weekly publication.
as climate scientists have explained, in a globally warming world, the number of records set for maximum temperatures will generally outweigh the number of records set for minimum temperatures.
Henson makes mention of this. Some excerpts after the headlines from his report below.
"The warmest (recorded) winter in U.S. history leaves its mark."
"Snow cover was scarce, the Great Lakes were mostly ice-free, and a million-acre wildfire tore across Texas."
"The nation’s third warmest February on record secured a place for winter 2023-24 as the warmest in U.S. records going back to 1895, according to the monthly climate update issued by NOAA on March 8.
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"Using the climatological definition of the season — December through February — winter 2023-24 averaged 37.6°F for the 48 contiguous U.S. states, soaring 0.82°F above the previous record from winter 2015-16. This stands as the biggest margin from one year to the next-warmest year across the entire 129-year database of winter temperatures. As in 2015-16, this winter’s U.S. warmth was boosted by a strong El Niño event.
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"Unlike January, there was no nationwide cold blast to interrupt February’s mildness in any major way. In fact, data compiled by independent meteorologist Guy Walton show that the nation set or tied just 45 daily record low minima in February, compared to 2,908 record high maxima.
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"Ice cover extent across the Great Lakes plunged to record-low values in midwinter, as discussed by Jeff Masters in a February 16 post. On average, Great Lakes ice extent peaks in early March, with close to 40% coverage typical (see Figure 5). As of March 7, a mere 2.2% of the lake surface was ice-covered, the lowest extent for the date in 51 years of record-keeping."
