Winter was third warmest on record for our area

In spite of a couple of large snowfalls, winter in the Ohio Valley turned out to be the third mildest on record.

According to the National Weather Service office in Paducah, for the months of December, January and February, our area had an average high temperature of 41.6 degrees.

The only winters with warmer averages were 1949-50 at 42.4 degrees, and 1991-2 with 41.8 degrees.

The normal average winter high is 37 degrees.

Meteorologists note that it was a record warm December that set the pace. January was near normal, and February was about three degrees warmer than usual.

This reverses the trend of the past two winters that were below average.