National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

If you have been thinking that the winter season has been warm, then you are correct.  The following charts will give you an idea of just how much above average we have been from the beginning of November through the end of January as well as how much above average we have been for the first few weeks of February.  It can be seen that we were about 4 to 5 degrees above average from the beginning of November through the end of January and we were 8 to 10 degrees above average for the first half of February.

 

The top charts show the average temperatures and the bottom charts show the departure from normal values based on the 1981-2010 normals.

 

 To break it down even further, we have separated the last three months and taken a look at some other interesting temperature rankings.  The criteria that we examined were the number of days with temperatures above 32 degrees Fahrenheit, the number of days with low temperatures less than 10 degrees and the number of days with low temperatures below zero.  These data, based on observations from the National Weather Service-Marquette, were then compared to previous years ranging from 1961 through 2011 to determine the ranking.  It can be seen that for each month the below zero data suggests that we have had warmer overnight lows than most years, especially for December and the first few weeks of February.  Also note that we have had very few days with lows in the single digits or lower for February.  The data are shown in the tables that follow:

  

2011-2012 Monthly

  

November	Number of Days	Ranking	Other Years With Similar Ranking
Highs > 32 F	25	4th Most	1990, 1998, 2001 and 2006
Lows < 10 F	0	1st Least	14 Other Years Have Similar Rankings
Lows <0 F	0	1st Least	41 Other Years Have Similar Rankings

 

December	Number of Days	Ranking	Other Years With Similar Ranking
Highs > 32 F	9	9th Most	1974, 1982, 1987
Lows < 10 F	7	5th Least	2002
Lows <0 F	2	2nd Least	1969, 1979, 1982, 1986, 1992 and 2003

 

 

January	Number of Days	Ranking	Other Years With Similar Ranking
Highs > 32 F	8	4th Most	1972, 1986 and 2005
Lows < 10 F	13	7th Least	1988, 1991 and 1994
Lows <0 F	4	4th Least	1992

 

 

February 1-25	Number of Days	Ranking	Other Years With Similar Ranking
Highs > 32 F	14	3rd Most	No other years
Lows < 10 F	6	2nd Least	1983
Lows <0 F	1	2nd Least	1983

 

 Once the monthly data was compiled we looked at the season totals from November 1, 2011 through February 25, 2012.  The data shown below will give you a better idea of how we rank, overall, since the beginning of the season.  Again it can be seen that through the season we've seen very few low temperatures in the single digits or below zero.  Note that the data does not include October, which may exclude some temperature readings that were in the single digits or below zero.  Our high temperatures also appear to be warmer than usual as we've had the 2nd most days with temperatures above freezing.

 

Season Numbers (November 1, 2011 - February 25, 2012)

	Number of Days	Ranking	Other Years with Similar Ranking
Highs >32	56	2nd Most	No other years
Lows <10	26	3rd Least	No other years
Lows <0	7	2nd Least	No other years

 

 *The data shown in the tables are preliminary data and are unofficial.  For official data, please refer to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC).

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