Many people could have worn flip-flops in the last days of 2019. The week before New Year’s Eve featured 70 degree days — but it was not a fluke. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information, 2019 was the warmest year on record in North Carolina so far.
And that calculation is not only based on the average of all temperatures. 2019 holds the record for warmest year based on average minimum temperatures and is the fifth-warmest year when looking at average maximum temperatures. Will we ever have snow days again? And is climate change to blame? Host Anita Rao talks to state climatologist Kathie Dello about the factors that made 2019 a record-setting year and what a warming trend might mean for the future of everything from wardrobes to crops in North Carolina.