We are in the midst of the coldest temperatures of the season. Daily records are being broken. Millions are shivering.
Despite this, record warmth has still overwhelmingly eclipsed record cold this month.
According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, there have already been 171 daily high temperature records broken for major U.S. cities in 2026 so far. Contrast this to daily low temperatures, where there have only been 41 daily low temperature records broken for major U.S. cities in 2026.
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But, climatologically, they have discovered that winter is the fastest-warming season across much of the U.S.
Extremes On The Rise
Climate Central analyzed 244 cities and found that 210 had at least some temperature increase since 1970. Winter, in this case, is defined as the three months that span December through February.
They found that winter is the fastest-warming season for 76% of the measured locations.
In fact, the average temperatures today are higher for 86% of those locations compared to 1970. This is the equivalent of six more extremely warm winter days on average.
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Simply put, a warm winter day is defined as a temperature that falls in the top 10% of warmest days on record for the winter.
Climate Central takes all daily winter high temperatures for over 50 years, from 1970 to 2025. They then check to see if the high temperature in a given winter is in the top 10% of all that data.
The Upper Midwest Is Especially Concerning
The upper Midwest has seen seven more extremely warm days in the winter when compared to the 1970s.
Milwaukee has seen a more-than-7-degree warming trend for the winter months, significantly higher than any other season. And Green Bay has seen 11 more extremely warm winter days, which greatly impacts ski areas.
The areas that have experienced fewer unusually warm winter days are generally the Northwest and the Southwest — only 8% of the measured locations.
Year-Round Impacts Of A Warming Winter
For those of you who don't like cold, you may be saying, "Is this good news?"
Well, not exactly.
Warming winters have impacts year-round, and here are just a few:
Longer Growing Season:Some crops are able to benefit from a warmer winter and begin growing sooner and can grow longer into the colder months.
Longer Allergy Season: With the increase in temperatures in the winter, those of you with allergies may start to notice earlier starts to your allergy flare-ups and that allergy seasons are beginning to last year-round.
Cold-Friendly Plants Suffer: Some fruits and nut crops actually need a cold season, and with more winter warmth, these plants that need consistent chill suffer.
Heating/cooling: While it can be true that warmer winters ease demand for heating in the colder months, the warmer months will end up seeing increased demand in cooling costs.
Mosquitoes: I hate mosquitoes. And they like warmer temperatures. This one needs no explanation.
Cold-weather sports: There has been increasing concern for the sustainability of winter sports. Some places that usually see snow have been consistently dropping farther below seasonal averages.
The Difference Between Weather And Climate
In order to truly understand the complexity of the situation, we have to get a little into the weeds and define the difference between weather and climate.
Weather is all about the short-term — what is going on right now.
Climate is long-term and focuses on trends. That is why you can still see a warming winter, despite the week of extreme cold that we're seeing right now.
It is all about the winter itself. The average temperatures are on the rise for the season as a whole.
Fast Winter Facts
Below are some fast facts for what all these warm winter weather numbers mean:
210 locations saw a decrease in the number of freezing nights.
Those locations saw an average of 15 fewer freezing days.
Cold streaks are dropping for the vast majority of the U.S.
Since 1970, nearly all locations saw their coldest temperature of the year increase by at least 1 degree.
While it is true that numerous cold records are being broken across the East, the majority of the country is seeing a remarkable amount of warming in the winter season as a whole.
Rob Shackelford is a meteorologist and climate scientist at weather.com. He received his undergraduate and master's degrees from the University of Georgia studying meteorology and experimenting with alternative hurricane forecasting tools.
