KEY WEST, Fla. – Good news for those heading to the southern beaches for spring break: You’ve picked an excellent spot to dodge the winter doldrums.
Though that could be said for just about any spring break, this year has been particularly warm along the beaches of Florida, the Gulf Coast and even the southeastern Atlantic coast.
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Many spots up and down the coastline are experiencing their warmest start to a year by average high temperature – a distinction that’s persisted through January, February and even March.
Several cities have pulled off their warmest January-to-March period on record, and it’s been a consistent heat rather than just one month spiking the numbers.
Miami, Pensacola and Orlando have had one of their five warmest Januarys, Februarys and Marches on record, leading to a ranking of No. 1 for their warmest January-to-March period.
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But even if you’re not heading to the beach, just heading to the South or Southeast, in general, has been a pretty good bet:
Meanwhile, it’s been a different story in the West as relentless atmospheric river storms have kept the clouds and rain (and snow) entrenched across California and even into Arizona and Nevada.
Several cities across the Southwest are having among their coldest starts to the year on record. Los Angeles had its fourth-coolest start at LAX (though “only” 19th coolest at downtown L.A.), while Las Vegas had its sixth-coolest start to the year.
Some of the cities with shorter-term records that cover just the last 20 to 30 years are at their coldest start to a year over that relatively short span.