2014 could be first year with no below-zero temps in Anchorage

One Alaska town is not as cold as it used to be, according to new data from the National Weather Service.

This year is headed toward breaking a record for Anchorage, where the temperature has not dipped below zero degrees Fahrenheit since Dec. 26, 2013, the Alaska Dispatch News website reports.

{mosads}It’s the first time the temperature in Anchorage has not fallen below zero in a single year since record-keeping on it began in 1952, according to the weather service.

The air temperature in Anchorage did hit zero in February, but it never fell lower, and isn’t expected to before the end of 2014.

“With as much certainty as a meteorologist can put behind anything, there is no chance we will go below zero before the end of the year,” Mike Ottenweller, a weather service meteorologist, told Alaska Dispatch News. “It’s strange to think about it.”

The abnormal year for Anchorage comes as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released data showing the planet is headed for its hottest year on record.

“With two months left to go in the analysis it’s becoming pretty clear that 2014 will end up the warmest year on record and the remaining question is by how much,” Deke Arndt, chief of climate monitoring at NOAA, said in November.