Northeastern Colorado’s warm, dry winter took a bit of a turn during February as temperatures cooled and we finally received some much needed precipitation.
The month started out with a continuation of the warmer and drier conditions we saw in January. Temperatures for the first days of the month were routinely near or above the 50 degree mark with little precipitation.
That changed on the 9th when low pressure moved through and served to cool things down to below normal. No precipitation was seen however.
The following 10 days were relatively calm and tranquil but with varying temperatures. The month’s high temperature was recorded on the 17th.
As we entered the last part of the month the weather turned much more unsettled and finally delivered a healthy dose of winter. A weak system on the 19th and 20th brought light snow and was followed a few days later by a more significant system on the 24th.
The waning days of the month saw mostly below normal temperatures and one more day of light snow.
The average temperature in Thornton during February 2013 was 30.3 degrees. Out at Denver International Airport, Denver officially had an average of 30.1 degrees. Both were well below the historical February average of 32.5 degrees.
Temperatures in Thornton ranged from a high of 66.2 degrees on the 17th down to the lowest reading of 5.7 degrees on the 25th. Only two days in Thornton failed to climb above freezing.
Denver saw its highest reading of 63 degrees on the 17th and lowest of 5 degrees on the 22nd with six days failing to climb above 32 degrees. All 28 days of the month saw low temperatures below the freezing mark at both locations.
Precipitation was the real weather highlight of February 2013 given how dry the season had been up to then. Thornton recorded 0.71 inches in its bucket while DIA saw 0.77 inches. Average for February is 0.37 so both locations enjoyed above normal measurements.
In terms of snowfall, Thornton measured 11.9 inches of the white stuff. Out at the airport they bested our area with 14.1 inches. Historically February averages a mere 5.9 inches so both were well above normal.
Click here to view the ThorntonWeather.com February 2013 Climate Summary
From the National Weather Service:
...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY 2013...
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1872 TO 2013
WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S
VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE DATE(S)
NORMAL
................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
HIGH 77 02/28/2006
02/04/1890
LOW -25 02/01/1951
02/08/1936
HIGHEST 63 02/17 70 -7 65 02/25
LOWEST 5 02/22 -14 19 3 02/11
AVG. MAXIMUM 43.3 46.2 -2.9 38.7
AVG. MINIMUM 16.9 18.9 -2.0 18.1
MEAN 30.1 32.5 -2.4 28.4
DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MAX = .01 6 5.3 0.7 7
DAYS >= .10 4 0.7 3.3 2
DAYS >= .50 0 0.0 0.0 1
DAYS >= 1.00 0 0.0 0.0 0
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL 0.43 02/24 TO 02/24 02/02 TO 02/03
SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
TOTAL 22.1 1912
TOTALS 14.1 5.7
DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 972 908 64 1055
SINCE 7/1 4272 4439 -167 4380
COOLING TOTAL 0 0 0 0
SINCE 1/1 0 0 0 0
FREEZE DATES
RECORD
EARLIEST 09/08/1962
LATEST 06/08/2007
EARLIEST 10/07
LATEST 05/05
....................................................
WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED 10.3
RESULTANT WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 2/229
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 35/360 DATE 02/15
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 44/010 DATE 02/15
SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.60
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 5
NUMBER OF DAYS PC 16
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 7
AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 51
WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM 0 MIXED PRECIP 0
HEAVY RAIN 0 RAIN 0
LIGHT RAIN 1 FREEZING RAIN 0
LT FREEZING RAIN 0 HAIL 0
HEAVY SNOW 1 SNOW 4
LIGHT SNOW 10 SLEET 0
FOG 9 FOG W/VIS