MONTHLY WEATHER DATA AND OBS - LAVALE MD FEBRUARY 2011 OBSERVER SCOTT LOHR DATA COMPILED AND PUBLISHED BY NATE MULLINS Special Observations: F=fog, T=thunder, H=hail, S=sleet, G=glaze, DW=damaging winds Observation time for this station is midnight. Temperature, °F Precipitation, In. Liquid Solid 7am DAY 24-hour Rain Snow/ Snow Special WEATHER Date Max Min Equiv Ice Depth Obs. SUMMARY 1 32 24 .66 5 F,G Overnight freezing rain 1/8", PM heavy rain 2 39 31 .21 4 F Overnight rain becoming partly cloudy 3 32 18 4 Partly cloudy, chilly 4 38 16 4 Mostly cloudy 5 37 29 .14 3 G Intermittent freezing rain, PM strong wind 6 35 31 3 Mostly cloudy 7 37 29 .01 3 Mostly cloudy, PM drizzle 8 29 15 .01 0.2 3 Partly cloudy AM, brief strong wind, snow shower 9 28 14 3 Mostly cloudy, cold 10 29 14 3 Partly cloudy, cold 11 39 19 3 Cold AM but with rising temps, partly cloudy 12 35 27 T T 2 Variably cloudy, flurries, breezy, blustery 13 53 27 2 Partly cloudy, milder, windy 14 53 35 .01 T DW Mostly cloudy, strong west winds, brief showers 15 45 31 Clearing with diminishing winds 16 58 25 Partly sunny, mild 17 67 37 Fair & mild 18 70 37 Partly cloudy, very mild, strong PM winds 19 48 31 Partly cloudy, colder, strong WSW winds 20 44 27 .07 0.5 S Increasing clouds, sleet this evening 21 35 27 .87 3.0 T F,S Sleet to rain, heavy PM snow, gusty NE breezes 22 31 20 .13 1.0 4 Overnight snow, mostly cloudy, cold 23 39 25 4 Partly sunny 24 35 25 .36 3 F Increasing clouds, cold PM rain 25 48 30 .30 1 F Overnight and AM showers, west winds to 35 mph 26 42 26 T Partly cloudy & windy 27 60 29 Mostly sunny, mild 28 53 31 .50 F,T Mostly cloudy, mild, breezy, AM rain/thunder AVG/SUM 42.5 26.1 3.27 4.7 1.9 <--mean depth EXT 70 14 0.87 3.0 5 Date 18 10* 21 21 1 *=Also occurred on earlier dates Miscellaneous Stats Mean Monthly Temperature: 34.3°F (+1.9°F) Year precipitation to date: 4.40" (-1.19") Monthly precipitation departure: +0.55" Season snowfall to date: 23.2" (-8.8") Number of days with: Fog 6 Sleet 2 Glaze 2 Thunder 1 Damaging Winds 1 NOTES/SIGNIFICANT EVENTS 1-2: Overnight freezing rain with 1/8" glaze on everything. Heavy rain late this evening & overnight on the 2nd (.87") 5: Intermittent freezing rain, little ice accumulation 8-11: Chilly, no precip 14: Damaging winds overnight & during the day. 58 mph at Frostburg State University and 45 mph at Allegany High School. Winds were from the west. Long streak of sub-freezing lows that lasted virtually the entire winter was broken today. 17-19: Very mild, highs of 67 & 70, neither were records however. Very windy on the 18th-19th with frequent west wind gusts to 35 and 40 mph, perhaps higher. 20-22: Sleet began late on the 20th & continued overnight on the 21st, changing to rain. Precipitation changed to heavy wet snow during the late PM hours and accumulated 4.0" from the evening of the 21st through early on the 22nd. Storm total precip 1.07". Precip and snow records from 1993 merely missed on the 21st (2011 - 3.0" snow, .87" precip; 1993 - 3.6" snow, .88" precip). 24-25: Rain overnight on the 24th and early 25th, very windy again 25th (and 26th) 27-28: Mild. AM rain with some thunder on the 28th, temperatures falling, breezy. MONTHLY SUMMARY February was a changeable weather month with above average temperatures for the first time in the past six winter months. While the first half was seasonably cold, there was a lack of any extreme cold. The second half was then variable, with some very spring-like temperatures at times, with highs reaching 70 on the 18th. The month also ended mild. We had a freeze/thaw pattern more similar of early March than late Feb. In sharp contrast to December and January, which had a combined 38 days with high temperatures below freezing, there were only 6 sub-freezing max temperatures this month. Diurnal ranges were quite variable, from a few degrees during precipitation events to over 30 degrees during some brief spring-like episodes. The relatively cold first half kept several inches of snow on the ground that had fallen in late January. The second half only had a few days with snow on the ground after the 21st-22nd storm. Precipitation was above normal. The month began with a mild ice storm on the 1st and changed to rain on the 2nd. The storm brought severe winter weather to the W & N of the area. The pattern was then fairly quiet, with mostly dry frontal passages, but there were many days with strong winds. On the 14th, winds were clocked at 58 mph at Frostburg State University. About 70% of the month's precipitation fell from the 20th to 28th. The most substantial event was the heavy ice/rain/snow storm that passed through on the 21st and early 22nd. 4" of heavy wet snow was recorded in the area. This was the only substantial snow event, and snowfall was well below normal, a major contrast from last February, which set a record for any month with 42.5" snow. Two more weather systems brought rain on the 24th-25th and thunderstorms on the 28th. Despite the lack of snow, precipitation was actually close to that of February 2010. Additional notes/records: No daily temperature, precipitation or snowfall records were set this month.