John McGinley, Peak to Peak. February 2020: A big swing in our snow fortunes as over 40 inches of snow fell over 18 snowy days. While this puts the month in the top 5% of snowy Februarys, it was below a record. In 2012 and 2015 we went over 50 inches. It seems that there is a general trend for increasing February snow, making totals look more like March. With all the storm activity you might suspect we were colder than normal. In fact, we were nearly 3 degrees below normal. Several days were below zero, something we haven’t seen since November. Storm systems mean windy days, and this was not an exception: 17 days with winds 40+ mph and 3 of these over 60 mph.

Precipitation: Snow totaled 42.2 inches accounting for 2.48 inches of liquid. Normals are 18.0 and 1.01 inches respectively. The big day was 14 inches on the 7th. The remainder of the storms were single digit accumulations. 

Temperatures:  It was cold with an average high of 30.5F and a low of 13.7. The warmest day was 54F on the 2nd, coldest was -9F on the 4th. Coldest high was 9F on the 4th. The month was 2.8 degrees below normal. This kept many properties snow covered through the month. I started the month with a snow cover of 1 inch on the ground and ended up with 14 inches, peaking out at 19 inches between the 12th and 17th.

Winds:  Very windy month for a February with 17 windy days (40mph+) and three days over 60mph.Winds approached 70mph on the 27th.

Other Features: Colorado was deeply imbedded in northwesterly flow with many disturbances impacting the state. This flow was moist accounting for our 18 snowy days. One of these on the 7th gave us many hours of moderate snow.

Outlook for March: March is our second snowiest month with 27 inches typical. Temperatures are warmer with average highs of 43 and lows of 20F. Winds die down with only 10 windy days. The long range models indicate a change in the upper flow to more westerly. Snow looks likely on the 7th – 8th of March and another in the 13th – 15th timeframe. Beyond that the change in flow indicates a warmer and drier month overall.

(Originally published in the March 5, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)