February 2016 Was Warm and Wet

by Steve Yablonski | March 4, 2016 11:51 pm

OSWEGO, NY – February 2016 was warm, but “no big deal,” according to Bill Gregway, local observer for the National Weather Service.

The average temperature last month was 29.6 degrees. That’s 3.2 degrees higher than average.

“It was warm. But it really wasn’t that big a deal,” Gregway said. “We’ve had higher.”

The highest temperature was 58 degrees on the 28th. It wasn’t a record.

The lowest was -15 degrees on the 14th. That too failed to reach record level. But it was the coldest since it hit -20 degrees in 1979, Gregway added.

February did see a new record high, 55 degrees on the first, breaking the old mark of 54 degrees set in 1988.

There were 3 days when the high was in the 50s and 8 times when it was 32 degrees or below.

The overnight lows sank to zero or below 3 times. There were 2 times they were in single digits and 5 times in the teens.

Total precipitation for the month came in at 5.40 inches. That is 2.60 inches higher than normal.

The greatest precipitation in a 24-hour period was 1.83 inches (including melted snow) on the 16th. That was followed by 1.22 inches on the 24th.

“It was a wet month,” Gregway noted. “We also had freezing rain twice.”

For the year, total precipitation is 7.33 inches. That is 0.85-inch above average.

Snowfall for the month came in at 38.6 inches. That is 4.1 inches above average.

The greatest snowfall in a 24-hour period was 11.7 inches on the 16th.

However, for the winter, snowfall was 69.9 inches at the end of February. That is 57.3 inches below normal.

Measurable precipitation fell on 20 days with a stretch of 12 in a row.

There was a trace once and 8 days had no precipitation.

February had no thunderstorms and 2 foggy days.

The area saw 33 percent of the possible amount of sunshine. That is 2 percentages above average.

The number of cloudy days, 18, was 2 below average.

The number of partly cloudy days, 10, was 4 above average.

The number of clear days, 1, was 2 below average.

The highest barometric pressure was 30.62 on the 18th and the lowest was 29.23 on the 25th.

“There were 10 days when the wind was greater than 20 mph,” Gregway said. “Several were over 30 and a couple were over 35.”

The strongest winds were south-southeast greater than 35 mph and also west-northwesterly around 35 mph, he added.

From the 10th to the 19th, “we had winter,” Gregway said.

“There was near-blizzard conditions on the 11th and the 16th saw wet snow and rain,” he said. “During that stretch we had continuous snow and our coldest temperatures of the winter.”

Last year, February was 11.3 degrees colder than average. There were 8 days when it was below zero.

Precipitation was about average.

Snowfall was 60.0 inches and 132.4 for the winter.

The warmest February is (34.0 degrees) 1867.

The coldest February on record is 1934 with 10.8 degrees. That is followed by 1885 with 11.9 degrees.

The highest temperature in February is 63 degrees recorded on Feb. 23, 1984, Feb. 27, 2000 and in 1954.

The lowest is -21 degrees recorded on Feb. 9, 1934.

The wettest February is 2008 (6.22 inches) and the driest is 1844 (0.19-inch) followed by 1987 (0.67-inch).

February 2007 holds the dubious honor of being the snowiest (95.9 inches).

Other snowy Februarys include: 1972 (94.1 inches), 1988 (70.4 inches), 1993 (65.3 inches) and 2015 (60.2 inches).

The least amount of February snow is 2.5 inches in 1957.

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/news/oswego/february-2016-was-warm-and-wet/

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