--- title: 2015-2016 Was the Warmest Winter on Record description: Temperatures were about five degrees above the 20th-century average canonical: https://time.com/4252339/this-was-the-warmest-winter-on-record/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-09T15:19:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:51:54.689Z article:section: Science og:title: This Was the Warmest Winter on Record og:description: Temperatures were about five degrees above the 20th-century average og:url: https://time.com/4252339/this-was-the-warmest-winter-on-record/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc346d536be5aa512/69888a4bcf40a862f4c42559/warm-winter-nyc.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Winter Rain Dampens New York City og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Was the Warmest Winter on Record twitter:description: Temperatures were about five degrees above the 20th-century average twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc346d536be5aa512/69888a4bcf40a862f4c42559/warm-winter-nyc.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Was the Warmest Winter on Record (9 Mar 2016) > Sponsored content. 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According to the National Weather Service, as much as 1.5 inches of rain was expected throughout the day and a wind advisory was to begin at 6 pm. (Photo by Bryan Thomas/Getty Images) NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 24: Pedestrians cross the street in Chinatown on February 24, 2016 in New York City. According to the National Weather Service, as much as 1.5 inches of rain was expected throughout the day and a wind advisory was to begin at 6 pm. (Photo by Bryan Thomas/Getty Images) Bryan Thomas—Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Mar 9, 2016 3:19 PM UTC December 2015 through February 2016 was the warmest winter on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [announced on Tuesday.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/03/08/americas-year-without-a-winter-the-2015-2016-season-was-the-warmest-on-record/) Looking at temperatures averaged over the lower 48 states, NOAA found the U.S. was five degrees warmer than the 20th-century average, the Washington _Post_ reports. Every New England state set winter records, and even Alaska saw its second warmest winter since NOAA began keeping records 121 years ago. While the climate event El Niño’s hot ocean temperatures could be partly to blame, the winter is in keeping with a long-term trend of climate warming.  The temperature difference from normal from December 2015 through February 2016 over the Lower 48. NOAA \[[Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/03/08/americas-year-without-a-winter-the-2015-2016-season-was-the-warmest-on-record/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4252339/this-was-the-warmest-winter-on-record/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4252339/this-was-the-warmest-winter-on-record/"},"headline":"This Was the Warmest Winter on Record (9 Mar 2016)","datePublished":"2016-03-09T15:19:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:51:54.689Z","description":"Temperatures were about five degrees above the 20th-century average","url":"https://time.com/4252339/this-was-the-warmest-winter-on-record/","keywords":["Environment"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc346d536be5aa512/69888a4bcf40a862f4c42559/warm-winter-nyc.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc346d536be5aa512/69888a4bcf40a862f4c42559/warm-winter-nyc.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Winter Rain Dampens New York City","caption":"Winter Rain Dampens New York City","creditText":"Bryan Thomas—Getty Images","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/4252339/this-was-the-warmest-winter-on-record/","name":"This Was the Warmest Winter on Record (9 Mar 2016)"}}]}] ```