Last month was the coldest February on record in many places in the Northeast, but climate experts say it is an anomaly.
The record cold in February was caused by a jet stream pattern that remained unchanged for weeks. Mike Rawlins of the Climate System Research Center at UMass Amherst said the average local February temperature has increased by .25 degrees F per decade for the last 180 years.
" It is important to keep in mind these are just weather events," said Rawlins. " The climate is warming and that is shown with the data. We don't want to confuse cold weather events with a warming climate."
Weather observations in Amherst date back to 1836. The previous coldest February was in 1934.
