Publication Date March 2, 2017 | The Weather Channel

Where Winter 2016-17 Ranked as One of the Warmest, Coldest, Wettest or Driest on Record

United States
The dots in orange indicate a top-5 warmest winter (December-February) and the dots in blue are where winter was a top-5 coldest. Image: Southeast Regional Climate Center
The dots in orange indicate a top-5 warmest winter (December-February) and the dots in blue are where winter was a top-5 coldest. Image: Southeast Regional Climate Center

This winter will likely be remembered as warmer than average in many areas, especially the East. Numerous locations, from the Great Lakes and Northeast into the South, saw a top-10 warmest winter.

Houston recorded its warmest winter on record, with an average temperature of 61.5 degrees. The previous record was 57.8 degrees, which occurred in 2011-12. Average temperature refers to the average between each day's high and low temperatures compiled from December through February.

A record number of 80-degree days occurred in Houston during climatological winter: 22 days, or about 25 percent of all winter days.

Staying in Texas, Austin also recorded its warmest winter on record. The average temperature over the past three months was 58.6 degrees, which broke the previous record of 57.6 degrees in 1999-2000.

Dallas-Fort Worth also experienced a record-warm winter, with an average temperature of 53.6 degrees. This breaks the old record of 53.0 degrees, set in 1999-2000.

Portions of Florida also saw very mild conditions. Miami reported its warmest winter on record, with an average temperature of 74.2 degrees. The previous record was 73.1 degrees, which occurred in 2007-08.

The temperature in Miami did not drop below 50 degrees the entire winter, which has never happened in 121 years of records in the South Florida city.

Fort Myers, Florida, also experienced its warmest winter in history. The average temperature was 70.9 degrees, breaking the prior record of 70.1 degrees from 1948-49.

A large swath of the eastern U.S. was mild enough to at least finish with a top-5 warm winter. Atlanta, for example, recorded its third-warmest winter, with an average temperature of 52.2 degrees. New Orleans also recorded its third-warmest winter at an average of 61.2 degrees.

Farther north, Raleigh, North Carolina, measured an average temperature of 47.9 degrees, making it the city's third-warmest winter. Washington D.C. also recorded its third-warmest winter, with an average temperature of 43.8 degrees.

In Boston, this winter will finish as the fifth-warmest. The average temperature during the last three months was 35.6 degrees. This is what the average high should be in mid-January, typically the coldest time of the year.