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February Extremes – Meteorological Spring Begins!

Hello and happy Tuesday everyone.  Today is March 1st, the  first day of Meteorological Spring – marking the day when the coldest three months, on average, in the northern hemisphere are behind us! WOOHOO! Don’t get me wrong, I am a HUGE fan of winter; I grew up a hockey player and lived out on the frozen ponds during the coldest and darkest winter days, but the older I get ‘I feel’ the harder it is to acclimate to the bitter cold, which seems to linger a little too long. I tread lightly because I know many make their livelihood during the winter months, but I’m sure I speak for many around the nation who experienced some of the wildest weather this winter season. Here are just a few snippets from February:

February 13th All 49 of 50 U.S. States Had Some Snow Cover

This is a rare site. On February 13th, 49 out of the 50 U.S. States had some snow cover. Weird to see snow cover in Florida isn’t it!? The only state that didn’t have any snow reported on the ground on this date was Hawaii.

Record Snowfall in Dallas Texas – February 11th

A record shattering 11.2″ fell in Dallas on February 11th making it the snowiest day ever in the cities recorded history. The old record was 7.8″ on January 14th, 1917 and again on January 15th, 1964

February Snow Totals in the Northeast

Impressive snow totals from the northeast with some reaching record levels. Pittsburgh reached 48.7″ making it the snowiest month on record; old record was 40.2″ in January 1978. New York’s Central Park received 36.9″ beating the old record of 30.5″ set in March of 1896 (the old February record was 27.9″ in 1934). Philadelphia ended the month with 51.5″ of snow, nearly 45″ above normal. Washington D.C. (Regan National) had 32″ of snow, near 27″ above normal. Many of these locations are at their snowiest SEASON ever in recorded history.

**Also, sorry for the misspelling of February in the graphic below…**

Much Needed Rain in the Southwest

Some spots in the southwest are near 2″ above normal precipitation since January 1st with the combined January and February storms rolling through the Great Basin.

Here’s the recently updated U.S. Drought Outlook from NOAA, note the continued “Improvement” conditions in the southwest. Great news!

So here’s to a new month! I hope February was kind to you and I hope March will be even better. See you around the Cape Horn!

Meteorologist Todd Nelson – WeatherNation LLC