The United States just experienced the warmest winter on record, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Observatory (NOAA) announced on Friday.

According to the US agency, the average winter weather temperature for the contiguous United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) was 3.1°C.

This “persistent warmth” caused “continued decline in ice cover” in the Great Lakes of the northern United States, “which reached its lowest level” in mid-February, NOAA said.

The Smokehouse Creek fire broke out in Texas in February and covered more than 430,000 hectares, becoming the largest fire in the history of this southern state.

Last month was the third warmest February in the United States, according to NOAA’s 130-year record.

Earlier this week, the European Copernicus Observatory announced that February 2024 was the warmest February on record and the ninth consecutive month to set such a global temperature record.