The Warmest Winter Ever Leaves Americans in Disbelief
The winter of 2023–2024 in the United States will be remembered not for its blistering cold snaps or record snowfalls but for its conspicuous absence.
Across the nation, Americans experienced what can best be described as a “phantom winter,” characterized by unusually warm temperatures and a lack of traditional winter weather. This phenomenon has left many scratching their heads, wondering, “Where did winter go?”
A Nationwide Warmth
In areas typically renowned for their wintry conditions, such as Burlington, Vermont, and Portland, Maine, temperatures remained anomalously warm, never dipping below zero. Minnesota lamented over “the lost winter,” warmer even than the “year without a winter” of 1877–1878. Michigan’s unseasonal warmth brought mosquitoes out in February, prompting the state to offer disaster loans to snow-dependent businesses. The Great Lakes witnessed record low ice levels, with Lakes Erie and Ontario remaining “essentially ice-free.”
The National Phenology Network reports that spring foliage is appearing three to four weeks earlier than the average of the past three decades across a broad swath of the country, from Colorado to New Jersey and from Texas to the Carolinas. This early arrival of spring is a clear sign of the season’s unusual warmth.
