Second Warmest Winter in 80 Years at Chicago, Warmest at Fargo, Top 10 Elsewhere in Midwest

The National Weather Service reported this morning that the winter of 2011-12 was the second warmest in 80 years at Chicago and tied for the 9th warmest overall. It was also the warmest in records dating back to 1881 at Fargo. As shown in the chart from the Midwest Regional Climate Center, temperatures ranged as much as 9° above normal in the upper Midwest.

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

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       4TH WARMEST
MINNEAPOLIS MN     4TH WARMEST
ROCKFORD IL        3RD WARMEST
ST LOUIS MO        6TH WARMEST