Extreme temperatures, record snowfall, surging energy use: This isn’t just a tough winter—it’s a historic one
If this winter feels strange, it’s not in your head.
In the eastern U.S., residents have been suffering through one of the most frigid seasons in recent memory. Yet for much of the West, temperatures have been unusually mild and snowpack levels are at record lows.
More Snow in Florida Than Utah? Why Weird Weather Has Dominated This Year.
While iguanas were stunned by freezing cold in Florida, would-be skiers were looking at dirt on Utah’s slopes. Here’s what’s going on, and when it will finally end.
The weather has been a bit weird across the United States this winter. As historic amounts of snow fell in the Carolinas and bitter cold gripped practically everywhere else east of the Rockies, some of the western states have basked in high temperatures more typical of late spring than the dead of winter.
Perhaps no other contrast tells this story better than the fact that, since the start of the year, Florida has recorded more snow than Salt Lake City.
The snowfall totals in Florida were meager — ranging from flurries in Tampa to a tenth of an inch in the Gulf Coast community of Miramar Beach to 1.3 inches in the small northern Panhandle town of Marianna. But they’re notable in a state where everyone from citrus farmers to sun-seeking tourists depends on mild winters.