It's finally spring! Sunshine, rain and allergy season are upon us. And we thought there was no better way to celebrate than to look back on some of the weather records that were broken this past winter.
First up, we've got to talk about Boston. Poor Boston.
As of March 15, more than 108 inches of snow had fallen in the Boston area, making it the snowiest winter the city's seen since 1872, the first year official records were kept. (Video via MSNBC)
The previous record was set in the 1995-1996 winter when the city got 107.6 inches of snow.
In February of this year alone, USA Today reports nearly 65 inches of snow fell on Boston.
Of course, the snow didn't come cheap. WBZ-TV says the city's mayor estimates it'll cost about $50 million for trucks to remove all the snow. The city had only budgeted for $18 million.
But despite all that snow, this past winter was actually Earth's warmest on record.
That's according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which reported the average global temperature for this past winter was about 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the average winter temperature for the 20th century, which was nearly 54 degrees Fahrenheit.
Last month also ranked as the second-warmest February on record. In the continental U.S., this past winter was the 19th-warmest we've experienced.
Back in January, NASA and NOAA announced the year 2014 was actually the hottest since records began in 1880.
And finally, maybe one of the most bizarre records set this winter happened in Italy.
Back on March 5, almost 101 inches of snow reportedly fell on the town of Capracotta, Italy, in just 18 hours. (Video via Telemolise)
Now, we don't know yet if this is a world record because tracking snowfalls isn't really easy.
A World Meteorological Organization expert told The Washington Post, "Even making snowfall measurements too often can affect the total snowfall value as snow compression is a critical factor in snowfall measurement."
The most snow that's ever fallen in one 24-hour period in the U.S. was way back in 1921, when 75.8 inches fell in Silver Lake, Colorado.
This video includes images from Getty Images and music from Kevin MacLeod / CC BY 3.0.
