Hottest Winter On Record for California, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Washington - NOAA

[hatrack]

As Yogi Berra famously said, “it’s déjà vu all over again.” While much of the eastern U.S. digs out from yet another snow and ice storm, the West has capped off a decidedly toasty winter.In fact, California, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and Washington each saw their hottest winter on record, according to data released Friday by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC).

For California, this winter eclipsed the previous record set just last year — a symptom of the area of high pressure off the West Coast that has stubbornly stayed in place and kept temperatures elevated. It also serves as a potential sign of how the average temperature for the year may turn out, not welcome news for a state parched and in drought.

From December through January, California recorded an average temperature a solid 1.5°F above last year’s mark. For just the first two months of this year, temperatures are 1°F hotter than last year, which ended as the hottest year on record by nearly 2 degrees.

“The state is already off to a large head start compared to last year,” NCDC climatologist Jake Crouch said in an email. “While it is too early to speculate on whether California will see another record warm year, 2015 is off to an impressive start.”

EDIT

http://www.climatecentral.org/news/record-hot-winter-for-california-18737?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climatecentral%2FdjOO+Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed

[CentralMass]

1. Portland has had its warmest winter on record as well, and the entire state of Oregon has its

second warmest.

[newfie11]

2. Here in the SD Black Hills I expect forest fires this summer

We've not had the snow amounts and if this continues I expect it wI'll bring forest fires this summer.