What Winter? NYC Had 2nd Warmest on Record

The "meteorological winter" is over, and it's official: the 2011-2012 season was the second warmest winter on record.

For climate records, meteorologists use Dec. 1 through the end of February for the inner and outer boundaries of winter climate record-keeping.

The data shows this winter was the second warmest on record, with an average temperature of 40.5 degrees in Central Park. The warmest winter on record was 10 years ago, in 2001-2002. The average winter temperature that year was 41.5 degrees.

Here are some more fun facts: 

• Since October 2011, Central Park only picked up 7.4 inches of snow or ice. That's 13.5 inches below normal.
• New York will likely end up having one of the 10 least snowiest winters noted at Central Park. The least snowiest winter was 1972-1973, when only 2.8 inches of snow fell the entire winter.
• In 2012, the city saw the warmest February on record, with an average temperature of 40.9 degrees. That's 5.6 degrees above the monthly average.
• December 2011 was the fourth warmest in recorded history at the park, with an average monthly temperature of 43.3 degrees, 5.8 degrees above the December average.
• January 2012 was 4.7 degrees above average, but didn't break into the top 10 warmest Januarys.

Looking ahead:

The Climate Prediction Center predicts the following from in-house climate models:

• Next 6 to 10 days: 60 percent chance of above average temperatures
• Next 8 to 14 days: 70 percent chance of above average temperatures
• March 2012: 50 percent chance of above average temperatures
• Three-month outlook (March-April-May): 33 percent chance of above average temperatures

Overall, it was a very warm winter and it looks like the-tri-state is in for a great spring.

(The climate records cited above were for Central Park, which go all the way back to December 1868.)

Follow NBC 4 New York's weather team on Facebook and on Twitter.

Leave Comments