AMHERST, Mass. (WWLP) – UMass Amherst researchers say this winter’s average temperature ranked as one of the warmest in Massachusetts ever, which has also tied with the previous record during the 2015-16 winter.

The data came from the monthly summary released by the National Centers for Environmental Information. This year’s winter averaged 33.7 degrees, 7.9 degrees higher than the average temperature from 1901 to 2000.

Average temperatures across the state have been above freezing in the four warmest winters recorded, all that have occurred since 2002. The average winter temperature from 1991 to 2020 is 28.5 degrees.

According to the data, winters have warmed at a rate of 3.9 degrees per century.

For Northeast U.S., this year’s winter tied 2015-16 for the second warmest on record. Connecticut, New Jersey and Maryland had their second warmest winter recorded this year.

Across the country this December, January and February, temperatures were much above average in most of the east coast and below average in most of the west coast.