Record warm winter
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Hundreds of western U.S. counties— including Island County in Washington, just had their warmest winters on record — per the latest data.
Why it matters: The widespread record-setting illustrates the unusually high temperatures across much of the western U.S. for the past few months.
- It's been a brutally warm winter for much of the West and Southwest, with implications ranging from bad ski and snowboard seasons to concerns about snowpack, water supplies and wildfires in the months ahead.
By the numbers: More than 420 counties had their warmest December-February periods on record.
- The average high temperature over those three months in Island County, which includes Whidbey and Camano islands, was 44.4° F — or 4.5° over the 1901-2000 mean of 39.9°F
- In King County, the average high this winter was 39.8°, versus 35.3°F over the same baseline period.
- That's according to NOAA data covering the last 131 years.
Zoom out: Washington tied its fourth-warmest winter on record with an average temperature of 36.2°, about 5.4°F warmer than the 20th-century average, according to NOAA.
Between the lines: "A ridge of high pressure has dominated the western half of the country, allowing for consistent warmer weather to prevail as well as causing the jet stream to steer storms further north, limiting snowfall for the mountains," per Weather.com.
What's next: More records will likely be set this week as an unusual March heat dome blankets the Western U.S., with temperatures expected to reach the triple digits in some places.