IRON MOUNTAIN — After a winter of record warmth in the Upper Peninsula, a long-range forecast from The Weather Channel favors above-normal temperatures through spring and possibly summer.

A mild spring is predicted across most of the U.S., with the Southeast Coast the only exception.

“Given the expected rapid transition from El Nino to La Nina, and the increasing global warming trend, it has become difficult to forecast anything but anomalous warmth as we head towards summer,” said TWC’s Todd Crawford, vice president of meteorology at Atmospheric G2.

For the U.P. the National Weather Service sees a 55% chance of above-average temperatures through May and just a 12% chance of below-average. Warmer-than-normal is as least slightly favored through summer and fall, with the forecast turning neutral by December.

Throughout the winter, a strong El Nino contributed to far-above-average temperatures locally. Temperatures in February at Iron Mountain-Kingsford averaged 29.5 degrees, which was nearly 12 degrees above normal. It was the second-warmest February on record, dating to the late 1800s. The warmest was 29.7 degrees in 1998.

The highest temperature last month was 65 degrees reported on Feb. 28, which was a record for February. The lowest temperature was minus 1 on Feb. 29. Record highs were also reported at the Iron Mountain-Kingsford Wastewater Treatment Plant observation site on Feb. 1 and Feb. 2, at 52 degrees; Feb. 21, at 54 degrees; and Feb. 23, at 55 degrees.

Observations for each date are made at 8 a.m. and cover the preceding 24 hours. In most cases, then, the observed high temperature reflects the highest temperature from the preceding day.

Unofficially, the first few days of March were just a few degrees off record highs in the upper 50s.

January temperatures at Iron Mountain-Kingsford averaged 20.2 degrees, about 6 degrees above normal, while December’s average was 30.6 degrees, nearly 10 degrees above normal. December was tied for the second-warmest on record.

Just 5 inches of snow fell in February — more than 6 inches below normal. The fall through spring snowfall total is 16.5 inches, which is about 30 inches off the normal pace. Water-equivalent precipitation totaled 0.48 inches in February — more than a half-inch below normal.

Snowfall record-keeping is incomplete and dates only to the late 1920s, but the lowest seasonal total on record is 27.3 inches in 1943-44.

The U.S. Drought Monitor shows moderate drought in Dickinson and Iron counties and severe drought in Wisconsin’s Florence and Forest counties.

There is also severe drought in Gogebic and Ontonagon counties in the western U.P. and moderate drought or abnormally dry conditions in the rest of the U.P.