FARGO – The El Niño weather pattern, the lack of snow and low soil moisture from a dry fall all added up to produce one of the warmest winters on record.

It ranked as the sixth warmest on record for North Dakota, and 46 of the contiguous states had a winter that was warmer than average, according to a report issued Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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Meteorological winter runs from December 1 through the end of February.

The Great Plains and Upper Midwest were among the regions with temperatures well above average, with some areas of North Dakota and Minnesota as many as 10 degrees warmer than usual, an NOAA map summarizing the notably mild winter shows.

Northern states saw a much warmer winter than normal largely due to the El Niño weather pattern, caused by warm water in the Pacific Ocean, which pushed the northern jet stream farther north, keeping away the frigid Arctic air.

"That's because we didn't see the Arctic outbreaks that we would normally see," said Brad Hopkins, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Forks.

Also, the lack of snow cover-Fargo so far has seen 24.7 inches of snow, compared to the seasonal norm of 50 inches-kept air temperatures warmer, said Adnan Akyuz, North Dakota's state climatologist.

The average high temperature this winter for all of North Dakota was 20.5 degrees. In Fargo, it was 27.2 degrees, 5.8 degrees warmer than normal. In Grand Forks, it was 25.1 degrees, 5.6 degrees warmer than normal.

This winter's higher low temperatures were even more impressive: 12.7 degrees in Fargo, compared to a normal low of 3.8 degrees, and 9.8 degrees in Grand Forks, compared to a normal low of 0.5 degrees.

This year's exceptionally warm winter continues a gradual warming trend that has been evident for a century, Akyuz said. On average, temperatures in North Dakota were 4.7 degrees warmer than a century ago, the largest rise in the nation, mostly because of warmer winters, he said.

"This is the highest trend in the whole United States," he said. "One of the reasons is North Dakota is a very cold state. Therefore it bears the great potential to catch up."

The El Niño trend, although weakening, is expected to continue through the spring. If it holds, the spring should follow winter as warmer than usual.

That appears especially likely given the lack of snow cover and relatively dry soils, Akyuz said.

"Everything is telling us that the temperatures will be warmer," he said.

Enjoy the mild weather while it lasts. El Niño patterns usually are followed by La Niña patterns, which often produce colder and sometimes snowier winters, Akyuz and Hopkins said.