For Northeast, frigid quarter
First three months of 2015 among coldest ever in East; warmest in West.
In the Midatlantic and throughout the Northeastern quarter of the nation, the Jan. 1-March 31 period was among the coldest first three months of any year in records dating to 1895, according to the government.
The period was the coldest on record in Vermont and New York State, based on temperature data compiled by the National Climatic Data Center.
For Pennsylvania, the period was the fourth coldest; in New Jersey, No. 7; Delaware, No. 8, and in Philadelphia, itself, No. 9.
And to underscore the bipolar nature of the wintry months, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming all set records for Jan. 1-March 31 warmth.
The coldest month, in raw numbers and relative to normal, in Philadelphia was February, when the official temperature at Philadelphia International Airport finished at 25.8, close to 10 degrees below normal.
As further evidence that what happens around here doesn't necessarily parallel what's going on in the rest of the world, Paul J. Kocin, a government meteorologist and winter-storm expert, notes that February happened to be one of the warmest months ever in the Northern Hemisphere.
Meanwhile, tell April it's still welcome to arrive; no hard feelings.