--- title: Winter Was Warmest on Record, NOAA Says description: Global temperatures from December to February were the highest on record, U.S. climate officials said Wednesday canonical: https://time.com/3750660/winter-warm-climate-change-noaa/ author: Noah Rayman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-19T13:08:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:03:10.694Z article:section: Science og:title: This Was the Warmest Winter on Record og:description: But you wouldn't have guessed it if you lived on the East Coast og:url: https://time.com/3750660/winter-warm-climate-change-noaa/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc6f3d88ee244d7d1/69878450e20a876fc7a85a62/winter-weather.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: A pedestrian walks through the exhaust of a steam vent during a frigid morning commute, Friday, Feb. 20, 2015, in New York. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Was the Warmest Winter on Record twitter:description: But you wouldn't have guessed it if you lived on the East Coast twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc6f3d88ee244d7d1/69878450e20a876fc7a85a62/winter-weather.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Was the Warmest Winter on Record > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=ea609dad-8120-431b-a86e-f2755d575aad&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Watch: A Timelapse of Climate Change [Watch (HLS stream): Watch: A Timelapse of Climate Change](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ywHiuC83.m3u8) (0:48)  _Published 2013-05-09. Climate Change_  by [Noah Rayman](https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Mar 19, 2015 1:08 PM UTC  by [Noah Rayman](https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Mar 19, 2015 1:08 PM UTC Global temperatures from December to February were the highest on record, U.S. climate officials said Wednesday. If that comes as a surprise to many Americans after an agonizingly cold winter, it’s because the region encompassing the eastern United States and Canada was one of the only places on earth with lower-than-average temperatures.  NOAA Globally, the average temperature from December to February was 1.42 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the 20th-century average, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The average temperature was the highest since tracking began in 1880, surpassing the previous high in 2007 by .05 degrees. Last month marked the second coldest February on record, behind February 1998. _Read next:_ [_It’s Official: Boston Had Snowiest Winter Ever_](http://time.com/3745398/boston-winter-weather-snowfall/?iid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3750660/winter-warm-climate-change-noaa/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3750660/winter-warm-climate-change-noaa/"},"headline":"This Was the Warmest Winter on Record","datePublished":"2015-03-19T13:08:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-01T09:03:10.694Z","description":"But you wouldn't have guessed it if you lived on the East Coast","url":"https://time.com/3750660/winter-warm-climate-change-noaa/","keywords":["Environment","weather"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc6f3d88ee244d7d1/69878450e20a876fc7a85a62/winter-weather.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Noah Rayman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc6f3d88ee244d7d1/69878450e20a876fc7a85a62/winter-weather.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A pedestrian walks through the exhaust of a steam vent during a frigid morning commute, Friday, Feb. 20, 2015, in New York.","caption":"A pedestrian walks through the exhaust of a steam vent during a frigid morning commute, Friday, Feb. 20, 2015, in New York.","creditText":"John Minchillo—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/environment/","name":"Environment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3750660/winter-warm-climate-change-noaa/","name":"This Was the Warmest Winter on Record"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: Latest Winter Warmest on Record","description":"Know Right Now: Latest Winter Warmest on Record","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/tNgI32rG/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-03-19T17:08:47.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/tNgI32rG.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3750660/winter-warm-climate-change-noaa/","duration":"PT1M5S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3750660/winter-warm-climate-change-noaa/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch: A Timelapse of Climate Change","description":"Climate Change","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ywHiuC83/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-05-09T17:46:05.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ywHiuC83.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3750660/winter-warm-climate-change-noaa/","duration":"PT48S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3750660/winter-warm-climate-change-noaa/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```