Every ten years, NOAA releases an analysis of U.S. weather of the past three decades, calculating average values for temperature, rainfall, and other climate conditions that have come to represent the new “normals” of our changing climate.

Although this was the smallest warm departure for any March since 2014, it was still the eighth-warmest March for the planet in the 142-year record.

A wetter-than-average March moderated drought in parts of the Central Plains, but severe to exceptional drought remained widespread in the West.

February 2021 was the United States' coldest February in 30 years, but the winter overall was warmer than average. Much of the West remained in some level of drought.

Polar vortex expert Amy Butler and Arctic expert James Overland offer perspectives on the February cold snap in the southern U.S., the polar vortex, and how the Arctic might influence mid-latitude weather.

Much of North America was warm and dry in January 2021, while Europe and parts of Russia were cool and wet.