National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
630 AM CST MON MAR 5 2012 /730 AM EST MON MAR 5 2012/

...TOP TEN WARMEST WINTER ACROSS THE LOCAL AREA AND MUCH OF THE
REGION...

METEOROLOGICAL WINTER OFFICIALLY CONCLUDED AT THE END OF FEBRUARY
AND COMPRISES THE THREE MONTH STRETCH FROM DECEMBER 1ST THROUGH
FEBRUARY 29TH. WHILE SNOW AND COLD SNAPS ARE STILL POSSIBLE
DURING MARCH AND APRIL...THIS THREE MONTH STRETCH IS MOST OFTEN
REFLECTIVE OF WINTER WEATHER...AND IS MOST REGULARLY USED BY
METEOROLOGISTS AND CLIMATOLOGISTS TO COMPARE SEASONAL DATA.


CHICAGO...

THE WINTER HAD AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 32.8 DEGREES...WHICH WAS
6.4 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS TIES THE WINTER FOR THE 9TH WARMEST
IN THE PAST 140 YEARS (SINCE 1872)...AND WAS THE SECOND WARMEST
WINTER IN THE PAST 80 YEARS. THIS WAS THE WARMEST WINTER SINCE
1997-1998.

RANK    WINTER      AVERAGE WINTER TEMP
---------------------------------------
1.     1877-1878           37.2
2.     1931-1932           35.7
3.     1879-1880           35.2
       1881-1882           35.2
5.     1889-1890           34.7
6.     1875-1876           33.6
7.     1997-1998           33.2
8.     1918-1919           33.1
9.     2011-2012           32.8
       1920-1921           32.8



ROCKFORD...

THE WINTER HAD AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 30.2 DEGREES...WHICH WAS
6.0 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS THE WINTER AS THE 3RD WARMEST
ON RECORD IN THE PAST 106 YEARS (SINCE 1906). THIS WAS THE WARMEST
WINTER SINCE 2001-2002.

RANK    WINTER      AVERAGE WINTER TEMP
---------------------------------------
1.     1931-1932           32.0
2.     2001-2002           30.9
3.     2011-2012           30.2
4.     1997-1998           30.1
       1920-1921           30.1
6.     1930-1931           29.9
7.     1982-1983           29.2
8.     1991-1992           29.0
9.     1908-1909           28.7
10.    1943-1944           28.5

IT MAY SURPRISE ONE TO SEE ROCKFORD RANK SEVERAL PLACES HIGHER
THAN CHICAGO FOR WINTER WARMTH. THIS IS DUE LARGELY TO THE FACT
CHICAGO HAS ALMOST A HALF CENTURY LONGER PERIOD OF RECORD THAN
ROCKFORD.


ACROSS THE MIDWEST AND GREAT LAKES...

THE MUCH WARMER THAN NORMAL DECEMBER THROUGH FEBRUARY WAS SEEN
ACROSS A LARGE PART OF THE NATION. BELOW IS A LIST OF SEVERAL
CITIES AND WHERE THEIR WINTER RANKED IN THEIR HISTORICAL RECORD.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT JUST LIKE CHICAGO AND
ROCKFORD...PERIODS OF RECORD DO VARY...SOMETIMES SIGNIFICANTLY.

CITY                  RANK
------------------------------
CHICAGO IL         9TH WARMEST
CLEVELAND OH       7TH WARMEST
FARGO ND             WARMEST
GRAND RAPIDS MI    2ND WARMEST
GREEN BAY WI       2ND WARMEST
KANSAS CITY MO     7TH WARMEST
MILWAUKEE WI       5TH WARMEST
MINNEAPOLIS MN     4TH WARMEST
ROCKFORD IL        3RD WARMEST
ST LOUIS MO        6TH WARMEST

THE DATA AND RANKINGS USED FOR THIS WERE GATHERED BY AND ARE
COURTESY OF MULTIPLE OTHER NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICES.

$$

MTF

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