By Wynne Parry, LiveScience

For parts of North America, this winter was the winter that nearly wasn’t.

January ranked as the fourth-warmest for the 48 U.S. states on record since 1895. December, too, was above average, although not as significantly. Weather watchers expect last month to rank above average temperature-wise as well.

Not much snow has falle in Lake Tahoe, but cold temps have created ice formations. Photo/LTN

Of course, this year hasn’t brought early beach weather for everyone; just ask residents of Alaska and Europe, where a frigid cold snap is blamed for hundreds of deaths. And the warmth has been blamed for contributing to the slew of devastating tornadoes that hit the Midwest and southern U.S. on March 2.

While scientists have said that global warming will cause an uptick in extreme weather, they are hesitant to link any one event or even an unusual season to climate change. Even so, they say, global warming may play a role in the weird winter weather.

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