A new report reveals that winter is warming faster than any other season across most of the U.S. The study, analyzing data from 244 weather stations since 1970, shows significant temperature increases and more warmer-than-normal days, impacting snowfall, water supplies, and various aspects of life. The report projects continued warming trends and discusses the influence of climate change on extreme heat and later first freezes.
Over the decades, winter has gotten much warmer and has become the fastest-warming season for most of the U.S., according to a new report.Climate Central gathered data from 244 weather stations across the country, calculating the average temperatures and days above normal for each winter from 1969 to 2024-2025 .
The data found that winter is the fastest-warming season for most of the U.S. – affecting snowfall, water supplies, winter sports, spring allergies, summer fruits and more. Locations across the Northeast and the Great Lakes region have seen some of the highest rates of winter warming since 1970.From 1970 to 2025, winters have warmed in 98% of 244 U.S. cities analyzed – by 3.9°F on average. On average, winters have warmed the most in cities across the Upper Midwest , Alaska , the Northeast and the Ohio Valley .The top winter warming locations were: Burlington, Vt. ; Milwaukee, Wis. ; Green Bay, Wis. ; Waterloo, Iowa ; Concord, N.H. ; and Toledo, Ohio . In addition, most cities now experience at least seven more warmer-than-normal winter days than they did in the early 1970s.The rise in warmer-than-normal winter days was largest among cities in the Northeast and Upper Midwest .The cities that saw the largest increase in warmer-than-normal winter days since 1970 were: Las Vegas, Nev. ; San Francisco, Calif. ; Fresno, Calif. ; and San Juan, Puerto Rico ."In our warming world, the coldest days aren’t as cold, and cold snaps are shrinking," Climate Central said in its report. During winter 2025-2026, the southern tier of the U.S. and the eastern seaboard are likely to be warmer than normal, according to Climate Central.Meanwhile, the country’s northern tier is likely to be wetter than normal. "With La Niña conditions emerging in September 2025, the winter outlook is broadly consistent with typical winter La Niña patterns in the U.S.," the organization said.This news follows other data released this past summer, which revealed that extreme heat was evident in nearly all U.S. states this past summer.RELATED: These states were unusually hot this summer, data showsAccording to Climate Central, at least one in five people on the planet felt a strong climate change influence every day from June to August 2025. In 48 U.S. states, the average person experienced at least 30 days of risky heat days – days with temperatures hotter than 90% of the temperatures recorded in a local area from 1991 to 2020. According to other data, the first freeze also now arrives later in 88% of cities analyzed — 12 days later, on average, than in the early 1970s.
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