Cold and snowy conditions dominated the winter season in the Northeast, with much of the region experiencing its coldest winter in a decade or more, and several cities seeing their biggest snowfall in years. However, if you live in other parts of the country, this winter was very different.
Meteorological winter — December to February — was unseasonably warm across much of the contiguous U.S., ranking as the second-warmest winter on record since 1895, behind the 2023-24 season, according to a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
While the Northeast faced persistent blasts of bitter cold and snow, exceptional winter warmth in the West nearly pushed the nation to a new all-time high for the season.
Nine states finished off with their warmest winter on record: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming. Dozens of cities in the West and Plains saw a top-five warmest winter, with cities such as Albuquerque, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City seeing their all-time warmest.
Dallas, Texas, recorded 16 days with high temperatures of at least 80 degrees, the highest seasonal total on record.
For much of the country, winter was not only exceptionally warm, but exceptionally dry, ranking as the driest winter in 45 years across the Lower 48. Much of the western United States entered the season already grappling with drought, and persistent warmth fueled the worst snow drought in decades across parts of the Rockies as more precipitation fell as rain instead of snow.