This Winter Wasn't Nearly as Cold as You Think, Feds Say

By the imprecise measure of human perception, this winter was a brutal one across much of the central and eastern United States. Several bouts of extreme cold and snow struck from Chicago to Kansas City, and eastward to Washington, New York and Boston. At times the frigid weather — related in part to wobbles in the polar vortex and deep dips in jet stream winds — extended all the way to the Gulf Coast

But according to new data released Thursday, the winter of 2013-14 (meteorological winter is defined as December through February) was not historically cold for the country as a whole. Instead, nationally speaking, this winter was an example of how the long-term increase in average temperatures, which is due in part to emissions of manmade greenhouse gases, is warping our sense of what a frigid winter looks and feels like. Read more...