This February was the warmest ever recorded in Alaska, and it capped a three-month winter period that was the second-warmest on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday.

From December to February, temperatures across the state averaged 14.2 degrees -- 10.6 degrees higher than the long-term average, said the monthly report, issued by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information. In the 92 years since recordkeeping began, only one other December-to-February period was warmer. That was the winter of 2000-01, which saw a statewide average of 15 degrees.

This February was particularly warm statewide, with an average temperature of 17.2 degrees, compared to the 20th-century average of 4.8 degrees, according to the centers' database.

The record probably didn't come as a surprise to Alaska climate scientists, who last summer predicted a warmer-than-usual winter. Several short-term factors influenced this winter's unusually high temperatures. They include a powerful El Nino pattern and warmer water in the North Pacific linked to a shift in the climate pattern known as the Pacific decadal oscillation. Those factors come on top of long-term warming trends.

Several Alaska communities posted notable weather statistics, according to the report, which was national in scope. Barrow had the warmest December-to-February season in 101 years of records, and Anchorage and Juneau had their second-warmest December-to-February periods, the report said. And the pattern continued in several places across the state last month.

Much of Interior and Western Alaska also posted record-dry weather during the three months, NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information reported.