If you thought this winter in Jacksonville was warm, you're right. It was record-breaking.
After a Spring Break week in Jacksonville that felt more like winter than spring, numbers just released by the National Weather Service show that this winter felt more like spring.
This winter, Jacksonville set a record for the most days with a high temperature at or above 80 degrees at 28 days, the National Weather Service Jacksonville reported Thursday. The normal for that time span is just 10 days. The weather service defines the winter period as December through February.
Seventeen of those days were in February, setting a new record for the month. The normal is four days.
And on Feb. 28, the last day of the month, the overnight low only dropped to 71 degrees, setting another record in Jacksonville for the warmest overnight low for the winter season, the weather service reported.
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A year ago, the winter season saw just 19 days with temperatures reaching 80 degrees or more. And the previous high of 26 days was in 2017-18, NWS reported.
This winter, the area’s lowest temperature was 20 degrees, recorded on Christmas Day, and the highest was 88 degrees, on February 23 and 24. The 68-degree temperature range was the seventh-largest on record. The largest was 77 degrees in 1984-85, with a low of 7 degrees and a high of 84.
Warmer winter weather across the U.S.
The warmer winter wasn't unique to Jacksonville.
In February, the average temperature across the contiguous U.S. was 36.5 degrees, some 2.7 degrees above averages for the 20th century, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Florida, along with Delaware and Tennessee, recorded its third-warmest February. Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and West Virginia all experienced their second-warmest Februaries. And Virginia saw its warmest February on record, NOAA reported.
Spring forecast: Warmer weather continues
For spring, NOAA predicts much of the South, including Florida, will see temperatures above normal. Precipitation outlooks for the April-June period show that rain totals should be normal for Florida and most other parts of the South.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville weather: City sets record for warm winter days in 2022-23
