February broke climate records. The average temperature across the United States was 7.3 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th century average of 41.2 degrees, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
This makes February 2017 the second warmest February in the 123 years records have been kept. The only warmer February from the last 123 years was 1954, when the average temp for that month was 7.5 degrees above average.
Read: Antarctica Reaches Record High Temperatures
Last month Texas and Louisiana recorded their warmest winters (December, January, February) yet, and were just two of 16 states that experienced the warmest Februaries on record. Houston, Texas, saw 22 days that were more than 80 degrees this winter, according to The Weather Channel.
This map shows the statewide average temperature ranking for the month of February 2017. Every state in red and marked 123 reached it’s highest February temperatures ever this year. Photo: NOAA
Not only did states experience unusually warm temperatures this winter, they also saw more precipitation than usual. The 2016-2017 winter was the eight wettest on record with 1.43 inches more precipitation than average, totaling 8.22 inches country-wide. Some states experienced drier than usual winters, while others experiences wetter than usual resulting in the overall above average final number.
These records fit in with the upward trend of warming the planet is experiencing, 2016 was declared the warmest year globally on record by both NASA and NOAA.
With the Trump administration threatening the Environmental Protection Agency, cut funding for climate research and possibly pulling out of the Paris Agreement on climate change, the future of research and mitigation on the front of warming in the United States is unclear. One thing that is clear though, scientists say, is that the country can expect to see warmer temperatures and more out of the ordinary weather events in the coming years.
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