weather or not to believe the wheather

My son spent 7 days including New Years Eve in Baniff National Park skiing.  At high altitude conditions were good, in the town there was no snow.  They skied in wind breakers with temp on the slope was above freezing much of the day.  Normal temperatures would have been 15 to 0°f with dips to -20, and they should have had 6 feet of snow in town.

7 nations set all time high temps in 2011, Kuwait 127.9f topped the list and even a French Island near Antarctica at 96.1°.

Here in Kansas today temps are in the 60's for the next few days, not records, but far over the norm.