Was Winter 2024-2025 one of the Coldest Winters on Record for BWI

[MDScienceTeacher]

I had an argument with several people about this over the weekend. Every single person said last winter was warm.   For some reason LLMs seem to be bias on this also saying that 84-85 was much colder and that last year was only "Mildly Cold".

I thought last year was one of the coldest on record.  Based on NOAA data it was right up there with 84-85:

 

[MN Transplant]

No, it was slightly below normal but nothing special.  It was not colder than 2014-2015 or 2013-2014.  

They haven't updated the Winter column for 24-25, but you can do your own math:  https://www.weather.gov/media/lwx/climate/bwitemps.pdf

[SnowenOutThere]

51 minutes ago, MDScienceTeacher said:

I had an argument with several people about this over the weekend. Every single person said last winter was warm.   For some reason LLMs seem to be bias on this also saying that 84-85 was much colder and that last year was only "Mildly Cold".

I thought last year was one of the coldest on record.  Based on NOAA data it was right up there with 84-85:

 

This is actual rage bait I’m impressed.  

[WVclimo]

1985 had a historic cold snap in January, but overall the winter wasn’t all that cold.  December 1984 was very mild, on the order of +5 for the month.  And the second half of February was also “warm.”

Neither season was close to the coldest on record.

[bncho]

Was Winter 2024-2025 one of the Coldest Winters on Record for BWI?

fuck no

 

[IronTy]

It's been so long since we had a cold winter that even an average winter feels like an ice age.  

[GramaxRefugee]

Lately I've been looking at HDD data for overall sensible cold. By this method January 2025 was 4th coldest January of this century.

However, not the case with full year, June-July. Here's our coldest years:

These number look about right to me, and 2002-2003 is 4th coldest all time for Balto, (since 1872)

 

[MDScienceTeacher]

8 hours ago, GramaxRefugee said:

Lately I've been looking at HDD data for overall sensible cold. By this method January 2025 was 4th coldest January of this century.

However, not the case with full year, June-July. Here's our coldest years:

These number look about right to me, and 2002-2003 is 4th coldest all time for Balto, (since 1872)

 

Right.. I dont understand the comments above. It was one of the coldest winters of all time. 

 

9 hours ago, SnowenOutThere said:

This is actual rage bait I’m impressed.  

See above.

 

9 hours ago, MN Transplant said:

No, it was slightly below normal but nothing special.  It was not colder than 2014-2015 or 2013-2014.  

They haven't updated the Winter column for 24-25, but you can do your own math:  https://www.weather.gov/media/lwx/climate/bwitemps.pdf

13 through 14 and 14 through 15 we’re definitely one of the coldest on record.  but last year compared to others, was one of the coldest years.

What is interesting however is that we’ve had some of the coldest winters on record in the last 25 years. It’s almost as if winters are becoming more severe and more cold.
 

24-25

38.6, 30.3, 37.6

13-14

39.6 27.4 32.9 

14-15

39.9, 30.8, 25.3

 

[WxUSAF]

Now do literally all the other winter months in the 21st century 

[CAPE]

Eh, when there is snow otg for damn near 3 weeks in these parts given current climo, its pretty damn cold. Hard to compare it to 'cold' winters decades ago for obv reasons.

[SnowenOutThere]

14 minutes ago, MDScienceTeacher said:

What is interesting however is that we’ve had some of the coldest winters on record in the last 25 years. It’s almost as if winters are becoming more severe and more cold.

So when they say you're a science teacher does that include knowing what an average is? Or actually does it include being able to look at literally any scientific papers from the last half century on the topic? 

[dailylurker]

22 minutes ago, SnowenOutThere said:

So when they say you're a science teacher does that include knowing what an average is? Or actually does it include being able to look at literally any scientific papers from the last half century on the topic? 

I had to delete my comment lol. I almost forgot we had snow otg for nearly the entire month of January. February wasn't terribly cold nor was December. I guess that's why it felt more mid. January was a 9 out of 10. 

[CAPE]

26 minutes ago, SnowenOutThere said:

So when they say you're a science teacher does that include knowing what an average is? Or actually does it include being able to look at literally any scientific papers from the last half century on the topic? 

Who is they lol? He says he is a science teacher. That being said, last winter was not one of the coldest on record.. it was cold relative to current climo.

[MDScienceTeacher]

So January was in the top 40 of all time: 

 

Looking at the January temperature data from 1871-2025, here are the top 40 coldest Januaries on
  record (from coldest to warmest):

  | Rank | Year | January Temp (°F) |
  |------|------|-------------------|
  | 1    | 1977 | 22.9              |
  | 2    | 1893 | 23.5              |
  | 3    | 1918 | 24.2              |
  | 4    | 1982 | 25.5              |
  | 5    | 1912 | 25.8              |
  | 6    | 1940 | 26.0              |
  | 7    | 1994 | 27.1              |
  | 8    | 1904 | 27.4              |
  | 9    | 2014 | 27.4              |
  | 10   | 1961 | 27.6              |
  | 11   | 2004 | 27.6              |
  | 12   | 1970 | 27.8              |
  | 13   | 1981 | 27.9              |
  | 14   | 2003 | 28.3              |
  | 15   | 1984 | 28.5              |
  | 16   | 1988 | 28.7              |
  | 17   | 1963 | 28.8              |
  | 18   | 1920 | 28.6              |
  | 19   | 1958 | 32.4              |
  | 20   | 1875 | 29.4              |
  | 21   | 1886 | 29.4              |
  | 22   | 1877 | 29.9              |
  | 23   | 1985 | 29.3              |
  | 24   | 2009 | 29.3              |
  | 25   | 1888 | 29.7              |
  | 26   | 1881 | 29.6              |
  | 27   | 1968 | 29.2              |
  | 28   | 1978 | 29.2              |
  | 29   | 1948 | 29.3              |
  | 30   | 1966 | 29.8              |
  | 31   | 1871 | 35.3              |
  | 32   | 1957 | 30.3              |
  | 33   | 2011 | 30.3              |
  | 34   | 2025 | 30.3              |
  | 35   | 1971 | 30.0              |
  | 36   | 1905 | 30.8              |
  | 37   | 1976 | 30.8              |
  | 38   | 2015 | 30.8              |
  | 39   | 1965 | 30.8              |
  | 40   | 1936 | 30.8              |

 

  After reviewing the data more carefully, here are the top 80 coldest winter seasons properly sorted
   from coldest to warmest:

  | Rank | Season    | DJF Average (°F) |
  |------|-----------|------------------|
  | 1    | 1962-1963 | 29.2             |
  | 2    | 1903-1904 | 29.7             |
  | 3    | 1904-1905 | 29.9             |
  | 4    | 1917-1918 | 30.0             |
  | 5    | 1976-1977 | 30.7             |
  | 6    | 1977-1978 | 30.7             |
  | 7    | 1960-1961 | 31.0             |
  | 8    | 1875-1876 | 31.0             |
  | 9    | 1936-1937 | 31.1             |
  | 10   | 1919-1920 | 31.5             |
  | 11   | 1880-1881 | 31.6             |
  | 12   | 1895-1896 | 31.6             |
  | 13   | 1981-1982 | 31.9             |
  | 14   | 1876-1877 | 32.1             |
  | 15   | 1892-1893 | 32.1             |
  | 16   | 1965-1966 | 32.1             |
  | 17   | 1894-1895 | 32.3             |
  | 18   | 1890-1891 | 32.3             |
  | 19   | 1901-1902 | 32.4             |
  | 20   | 1993-1994 | 32.4             |
  | 21   | 1958-1959 | 32.5             |
  | 22   | 1959-1960 | 32.5             |
  | 23   | 2014-2015 | 32.5             |
  | 24   | 1898-1899 | 32.7             |
  | 25   | 1961-1962 | 32.7             |
  | 26   | 1877-1878 | 32.9             |
  | 27   | 1879-1880 | 32.9             |
  | 28   | 1911-1912 | 32.9             |
  | 29   | 1964-1965 | 32.9             |
  | 30   | 1967-1968 | 32.9             |
  | 31   | 1935-1936 | 33.0             |
  | 32   | 1888-1889 | 33.0             |
  | 33   | 1872-1873 | 33.2             |
  | 34   | 1963-1964 | 33.3             |
  | 35   | 1985-1986 | 33.3             |
  | 36   | 1970-1971 | 33.6             |
  | 37   | 1883-1884 | 33.6             |
  | 38   | 1999-2000 | 33.6             |
  | 39   | 1968-1969 | 33.7             |
  | 40   | 1881-1882 | 33.7             |
  | 41   | 1884-1885 | 33.7             |
  | 42   | 1933-1934 | 33.8             |
  | 43   | 1909-1910 | 34.0             |
  | 44   | 1980-1981 | 34.1             |
  | 45   | 1955-1956 | 34.2             |
  | 46   | 1966-1967 | 34.5             |
  | 47   | 1916-1917 | 34.5             |
  | 48   | 1906-1907 | 34.5             |
  | 49   | 1939-1940 | 34.7             |
  | 50   | 1986-1987 | 34.7             |
  | 51   | 1987-1988 | 34.8             |
  | 52   | 1950-1951 | 35.0             |
  | 53   | 2008-2009 | 35.1  |

| 54  | 2024-2025 | 35.5

 

So definitely not the anywhere near coldest of all time, but somewhere around 80th percentile given ~200 years of data.

 

 

[WxUSAF]

Official records for Baltimore go back to the 1870s I think? So we have about 150 years of data. And of the coldest 54 winters, only 3 come from the last 25 years.