- The Lower 48 states experienced a winter with record warmth in the West.
- Salt Lake City, Phoenix and Las Vegas had their warmest winters despite the East seeing severe cold.
- Meteorologist Jonathan Martin links shrinking cold pools to human-caused climate change.
SALT LAKE CITY — There was a decisive winner to the Lower 48 states’ split screen winter — a battle between frigid cold in the East and record warmth in the West. Anyone in the East who shivered through this winter could be in for a shock at the outcome.
In the end, the warmth won out, and this winter will likely be ranked among the warmest such seasons for the contiguous U.S. In fact, two data sets preliminarily show that the Lower 48 states saw its second-warmest winter on record.
It’s an astonishing demonstration of how climate change works. Even our coldest colds can no longer make a dent in record-setting heat…