John McGinley, Peak to Peak. February 2019: We saw the coldest temperatures of the winter with five days below 0F. Typically we only see three such days in a normal February. The month started
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John McGinley, Peak to Peak. February 2019: We saw the coldest temperatures of the winter with five days below 0F. Typically we only see three such days in a normal February. The month started out on the cool side but then warmed up mid month and cooled off again in week three. The coldest day was -12F on the 7th. These low temperatures were brought on by large arctic high pressure systems that plunged into the plains and produced upslope into the Front Range. Despite this we only had moderate snow, 20 percent below normal. During the warm periods we had strong westerly airflow that brought many windy days to the Peak-to-Peak region. Windy days were well above normal.
Precipitation: Snow for the month was 14.5 inches, below the normal of 18 inches. This melted out to 0.76 inches, about a quarter of an inch below normal. The ”big” snow was 6 inches on the 6-7th. The rest of the snow events were in the 1-2 inch range.
Temperature: Average high was 33.2F with an average low of 14.7F. This put the month 2 degrees below normal, the coldest so far this winter. The 7th had both the lowest high at 11F and the lowest low at -12F. The highest temperature was 48F on the 27th. Highest low was 32F on the 28th.
Winds: Another brutal month with 17 days at 40+mph and three of those days at 60+mph. Peak wind was 64mph on the 13th.
Other features: An upper level trough over western US was a persistent feature. This brought extended periods of polar air over the west making the month cooler than normal. When this trough weakened we had strong westerly flow accounting for the number of windy days.
Outlook for March: A typical March day has a high of 43F and a low of 20F. It is snowier than February with 28 inches and 1.8 inches of liquid Winds will normally occur on 10 days. The long range forecast models are indicating a warm and dry first week with a potential for a strong storms between the 9th and 12th. After that a warmer and drier period will return. Overall the month should be cooler and wetter than normal.
(Originally published in the March 7, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)
