February 2022: Three major incursions of cold, arctic air were the significant events for the month. During the past few years we have not seen air as cold as we experienced. We had seven days below zero, in the top 30% of cold Februarys. Snow was about average with winds a little more than average. Northwest flow aloft tapped into cold, Canadian air and spread it southward from the Front Range to the Great Lakes.

Temperature: Average conditions were cold with an average high of 31F and an average low of 11.9F. These averaged out to 3 degrees below normal after nine months straight of warmer than normal months. One has to go back to April of 2021 to find a colder than normal month. We had seven days below zero, four days more than is typical. Lowest low was -13F on the 2nd and 23rd. Highest high was 48F on the 15th. Lowest high was 5F on the 2nd and 22nd.

Precipitation: Our Arctic events did not lead to huge amounts of precipitation but we ended up slightly above average. Snow totaled 19.7 inches that melted out to 1.23 inches. Normals are 18.4 and 1.04 inches, respectively. The big event wasa7incheronthe11-12th.

Winds: Windier than normal with several days over 60mph. Peak wind was 62mph on the 10th. Ten days had winds of 40+ mph with four days over 60mph.

Other Features: The persistent ridge we have seen shifted westward a bit and put us in more frequent northerly wind flow. This steered Arctic highs our way.

Outlook for March: A typical March day has a high of 43F and a low of 20F. March is the first of our two big snow months with 28 inches of snow melting out to 1.9 inches. Ten days are windy. The long range models indicate a snowy start for the first two weeks with good snow chances from the 4th to the 6th. Another big event is possible from the 10th to the 12th. Further predictions show wetter and cooler than normal out to week 3-4. Could be a snowy month.