WASHINGTON, DC – According to preliminary data provided by the National Centers for Environmental Information, it was the Nation’s 6th-warmest, 19th-wettest winter in 125-years of record keeping. The average temperature of 36.0°F was 3.8°F above the 1901-2000 mean, while precipitation averaged 7.71 inches (114 percent of normal). All Lower 48 States had a December-February ranking on the “warm” side of the historical distribution; Utah, with its 42nd-warmest winter, was the “coolest” State. Meanwhile, top-ten rankings for winter warmth were observed in 24 of 26 States east of the Mississippi River. Statewide precipitation rankings ranged from the 22nd-driest in California to the wettest winter on record in Alabama and Georgia. It was also among the ten wettest winters in Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee.