Climate Central: It might seem like the East Coast has endured a never-ending winter, but that was hardly the case for the Lower 48 in January. According to new data released Thursday by the National Climatic Data Center, the nation was extremely dry and only slightly cooler than average for the first month of 2014.
The average temperature of the U.S. was just 0.07°F below the 1981-2010 average according to NCDC. That makes it the 52nd-coldest winter since recordkeeping began 120 years ago.
While recent cold...