It’s official: Syracuse has its warmest winter!
SYRACUSE, NY (WSYR-TV) – This winter in Syracuse has been warm and has lacked a lot of snow but is one for the record books.
Our warmest winter ever recorded!
The average temperature for the three months just ending (December through February) was 34.2 degrees or 7.3 degrees above normal just edging out the winter of 2001-02.
The warmth was rather consistent over the last three months with more than two thirds on the 91 days having high temperatures above normal.
The records in Syracuse go back to 1902.
Doesn’t winter officially later in March?
Yes, technically the spring equinox comes in about 3 weeks (specifically on March 19th this year) and that is the time when the sun’s rays are directly above the equator at Noon.
In weather, however, we consider the seasons a bit differently.
We pick the full months of December, January and February for meteorological winter because they are typically our coldest months of the year. Plus, it helps make doing the averages a bit easier.
What’s the cause of the warmth?
Certainly, you can consider climate change a culprit as there has been a recent trend for warmer winters in Syracuse. Just look at the rankings of our last few winters:
2022-23 11th warmest
2019-20 29th warmest
2021-22 32nd warmest
Also, the phenomena called El Nino that developed last fall has helped. That is the warmer than normal surface waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. This adds warmth to the atmosphere and affects the position of the jet stream.
As we stated in our forecast for this winter, there is a strong tendency here in Syracuse and the Northeast for warmer than normal weather in El Nino winters.
It looks like more of the same as we start the meteorological spring with above normal temperatures the norm for much of the first half of the month of March.
