Utah’s balmy winter weather may have you ready to throw out your winter coat, but hold that thought, at least for a few more decades.
“I don’t think this is the new climate normal,” said Jim Steenburgh, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Utah. “This is an unusual year, even with the warming we’ve had. It would still be abnormal 20-30 years from now, but the potential for years like this is growing.”
Since November, Utah has experienced the hottest winter in recorded history, Steenburgh said. Temperatures measured at the Salt Lake City International Airport averaged nearly ten degrees above normal last month, according to Brian McInerney, a hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City.