The main purpose of this ongoing blog will be to track global extreme or record temperatures related to climate change. Any reports I see of ETs will be listed below the main topic of the day. I’ll refer to extreme or record temperatures as ETs (not extraterrestrials).😜
Main Topic: U.S. West Sees Record Warmth with a Snow Drought This Winter
Dear Diary. The United States lower 48 states have statistically seen their record warmest winter during the winter of 2023/4 and the 27th record warmest winter last winter from 2024 to 2025 going back to 1895.
So, due to global warming it comes as no surprise that a good chunk of the U.S. is having a record warm winter this season despite the Midwest and Northeast seeing the coldest winter in years.
The Dec-Jan period was the 7th warmest for the Contiguous U.S. since 1940. 21.1% had the warmest Dec-Jan during that period. 0.0% had the coldest Dec-Jan; 0.0% had the 2nd coldest, 0.0% had the 3rd coldest, …. all the way thru the 13th coldest.
Check out these notes by expert Dr. Daniel Swain and others:
This mountain snow in the U.S. West is desperately needed–snowpack has reached record low levels for time of year in many locations & will fall even further behind until early next wk, when there will likely be *some* recovery. TBD just how much; the existing deficits are huge.
How are we doing on snowfall this season in the Contiguous U.S. through January? Well, it's the lowest combined total thru Jan since 1943-44. While places in the South and East that average 5" to 20" have done pretty well, most everyplace out West (MUCH higher averages), have had little to no snow.
Statewide snowpack remains the worst on record, and it's not even close. It's barely half of where it should be.Again…zero pleasure delivering this news. There are outs, but we're gonna need a railroad track of storms in late February-April to get us out of this.#COwx
It also comes as no surprise that western ski resorts are hurting this season. A change of weather pattern will probably help though this February:
A much-needed major weather pattern change is finally coming for the continental U.S.! The "Warm West/Cool East" temperature dipole, which has been associated with record Western warmth and extreme Eastern cold/ice/snow, will finally fade in the coming days.
I will let all know what transpires during this month and when climatology for this winter gets processed by NCEI in early March.
Here are some “ETs” recorded from around the U.S. the last couple of days, their consequences, and some extreme temperature outlooks, as well as any extreme precipitation reports:
#HFO issues Record Event Report (RER) at Feb 6, 4:49 PM HST …RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE SET AT HILO HI… https://t.co/BuwiTLQVeP
#SHV issues Record Event Report (RER) at Feb 6, 6:45 PM CST …DAILY HIGH TEMPERATURE RECORDS TIED OR BROKEN ON FEBRUARY 6TH AT THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS… https://t.co/seC1LWdTrE
#TFX issues Record Event Report (RER) at Feb 6, 10:10 PM MST …RECORD WARM MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES FOR FEB 6 IN NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA… https://t.co/qGR7hTrXNL
(As usual, this will be a fluid post in which more information gets added during the day as it crosses my radar, crediting all who have put it on-line. Items will be archived on this site for posterity. In most instances click on the pictures of each tweet to see each article. The most noteworthy items will be listed first.)
Talking Climate"Climate hushing"—the quiet trend undermining global climate actionThe year of renewables, bad news in disguise, "climate hushers", and how to keep the conversation going.Katharine HayhoeFeb 04, 2026open.substack.com/pub/talkingc…
Why the weather wobbled?Dr Jennifer Francis is one of the best #climate science communicators anywhere. She simplifies the incredibly complex forces degrading the Jet Stream to explain why our weather is increasingly getting stuck. #RTECountrywide #SpeirGormListen: 👉 www.rte.ie/radio/radio1…
While there *is* evidence of both "wetter wets" & "drier dries" in warming climate, temperatures are going almost universally in one direction: Up. We're just not seeing "colder colds."Some interesting potential Arctic-related caveats still remain TBD, but that doesn't change big picture.
The Dec-Jan period was the 7th warmest for the Contiguous U.S. since 1940. 21.1% had the warmest Dec-Jan during that period. 0.0% had the coldest Dec-Jan; 0.0% had the 2nd coldest, 0.0% had the 3rd coldest, …. all the way thru the 13th coldest.
One of the vulnerable villages is just over 5 miles from me, it loses more land to the sea every year With the acceleration of both global warming and rate of sea level increase, things are only going to get worse #climate
Bea Kim is an Olympian, @protectourwinters.bsky.social member + climate advocate. “The world is changing. Glaciers are melting that we’re riding on. Each year we wonder if there will even be enough snow for us to do what we love. I couldn't watch it happen and not say anything about it,” she says.
Dendrochronology and paleoclimatology of the Stradivari's violins:"…the majority of soundboards were crafted from Norway spruce (Picea abies) that grew at very high elevations during the severe climatic conditions of the Maunder Minimum"🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #Geology #Climate
The last week has been exceptionally amplified. The average temps for the 7 day stretch were 10-20° F above normal West, 10-15° East. That’s not an easy feat! 100s of records broken!
How out of the ordinary was the #Florida cold air outbreak last week? Look at the graph below… see that off the charts spike? On Miami’s record cold day, that’s 27°F below normal, far outside the 90 or 95% bars, and approx 5+ standard deviations from the mean! A very rare, even generational event.
"A confidential EDF report anticipates a surge in costs and risks. #EDF's internal report on the consequences of adjusting its #nuclear fleet to make room for renewables. This explosive document comes as FR govt prepares to publish Multiannual Energy Program."www.lepoint.fr/economie/ele…
Wow, human made structures and cliff erosion helped Southern California beaches expand by approximately 10% from 1984-2024, “even as dams and urban development were expected to starve coastlines of sediment and accelerate erosion.”phys.org/news/2026-02…
Claremont was among the first conservative think-tanks to recognise the opportunity that Donald Trump presented. Its trajectory mirrors a broader shake-up on the right, where actual thinking is much unwanted
"Professors Are Being Watched: ‘We’ve Never Seen This Much Surveillance’""Scrutiny of university classrooms is being formalized, with new laws requiring professors to post syllabuses and tip lines for students to complain."Gift link 🎁 www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/u…
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