Environment
La Crosse gets second-warmest winter on record, with little snow, and 60-degree weather for Polar Plunge day
The balmy winter we’ve had is almost the warmest on record for La Crosse, according to the weather service.
The daily average temperature from December 1st to the end of February was 31.5 degrees. La Crosse’s only meteorological winter on record that was warmer than this one occurred almost 150 years ago, during the winter of 1877-78. That winter, the average temperature in the city was 34.2 degrees. Three of La Crosse’s warmest winters on record have been within the last 10 years.
The high for the season was 69 degrees last Tuesday. The mercury in La Crosse fell below zero only 9 days this winter, compared to 21 days on average.
The average daily temperature of 31 degrees for those months was 9 degrees above normal. The 69 degrees last Tuesday is tied for the warmest temperature on record for a La Crosse winter.
La Crosse reported a high of 65 on Saturday, the day when hundreds of people took part in the Special Olympics Polar Plunge at Black River Beach. The average temp for Saturday was 20 degrees higher than normal for the 2nd of March.