TEMPERATURES

Following one of the area’s warmest Januarys, February continued the mild winter weather through much of the first half. Old Man Winter finally decided to show his face for the second half, not only with temperatures but also with snowfall. Only 1 Minimum Temperature ≤32° was recorded in the first half, reaching 29.4° (13th). Subsequently, 6 consecutive days reached ≤32° from the 18th-23rd, with the month’s Minimum Temperature falling to 22.0° on the 23rd. Splitting the month in half, the Average Max/Min/Mean Temperatures observed were: 1st-14th, 52.4°/41.2°/46.8°; 15th-28th, 42.5°/32.9°/37.7°. The coldest period occurred from the 19th-23rd when all Maximum Temperatures remained in the 30’s, with Average Max/Min/Mean Temperatures of 37.1°/26.2°/31.7° during the snowiest period of the month, allowing the snow cover ≥1” to remain for 6 days despite the increasing late winter sun angle. I guess one could say it was a “Contrary February.”

It was a very dry beginning to the month as a total of only 0.25″ of rain fell through the first 13 days (just 0.01″ from the 4th-13th). Though no heavy precipitation fell the remainder of the month, it did precipitate nearly every day, including 8 consecutive days with some type of frozen precipitation. Snowfall ≥1.0” fell on 4 of 5 days from the 18th-22nd, totaling 10.0″. Sixteen days with measurable precipitation (≥0.01”) occurred, certainly a below normal amount. The greatest Snow Depth reached 6″ on the morning of the 22nd but the strong late February sun melted it down to 3″ by the following Midnight observation. 2 days of Hail were observed.

 LINK TO MY HAPPY VALLEY STATION’S MONTHLY WEATHER FORM FOR FEBRUARY 2018:

http://happyvalleywx.weathertogether.net/february-2018/