The trend of very mild winters continues.
The three months of December through February comprise the period of climatological winter. This winter’s average daily mean temperature of 18.1 degrees ranks as the 10th warmest on record.
The previous winter of 2015-16 ranks as the sixth warmest winter. The winter of 2011-12 is tied with the winter of 1986-87 for the warmest, with an average daily mean temperature of 22.1 degrees. Of the 136 full winters on record, nine of the warmest ten have occurred in the past 35 years.
But winter seasons have not all been soft lately. The winter of 2013-14 ranks as 15th coldest. Four consecutive winters, from 2007-08 through 2010-11 were all colder than average. But the overwhelming trend in recent years is that mild winters are much more common and very cold winters are much rarer.
