MONTHLY WEATHER DATA AND OBS - WESTMONT 1.1W PA FEBRUARY 2012 OBSERVER NATE MULLINS Special Observations: F=fog, T=thunder, H=hail, S=sleet, G=glaze, DW=damaging winds Observation time for this station is midnight (Eastern US). Temperature, °F Precipitation, In. Liquid Solid 7am 24-hour At Rain Snow/ Snow Date Max Min Obs Equiv Ice Depth Special Obs. 1 54 42 42 .13 2 42 30 30 T T F,S 3 43 29 29 4 33 27 31 .17 2.0 F,S 5 40 28 29 2 6 44 24 35 T 7 39 30 30 8 33 25 25 .15 2.7 9 33 20 26 3 10 31 25 28 .04 0.5 1 11 29 12 12 .25 4.5 2 12 18 10 18 .02 1.3 5 13 32 16 28 4 14 41 27 32 .19 1.2 4 15 38 31 31 .02 4 16 43 31 42 .52 3 F 17 42 29 29 .06 1 F 18 44 25 27 T T T S 19 38 26 28 20 38 21 26 21 40 26 40 .19 T S 22 50 35 42 .02 23 50 38 39 .11 24 55 28 28 .14 0.8 S 25 28 24 24 .20 3.3 2 26 39 24 30 T T 3 27 55 26 29 T 28 46 25 37 29 54 33 54 1.22 F,DW AVG/SUM 40.4 26.4 31.1 3.43 16.3 1.2 (avg) EXT 55 10 54/12 1.22 4.5 5 Date 27* 12 29/11 29 11 12 *=Also occurred on earlier dates Miscellaneous Stats Mean Monthly Temperature: 33.4 F (+4.9 F) Year precipitation to date: 8.50" (+1.27") Monthly precipitation departure: +0.01" (avg Feb. 3.42") Season snowfall to date: 53.5" Number of days with: Fog 5 Sleet 5 Damaging Winds 1 DETAILED OBSERVATION NOTES 1: Windy and very mild overnight with a couple of rain showers. Partly cloudy, gusty W winds, still mild today with temperatures slowly dropping off through the evening. 2: Dense AM fog, overcast & breezy with winds shifting to NW, very light ice pellets this evening. 3: Cloudy early then AM clearing, partly cloudy & pleasant PM with light NNW breezes, clear after sunset. LIGHT SNOW 4: Increasing clouds again overnight. A period of steady light snow, beginning as light ice pellets, began around noon and tapered off around 5pm with 2.0" of snowfall. Evening fog. 5: Overcast overnight and early AM becoming partly cloudy by 8:30am. Milder high 40 F with most of yesterday's snow melting. Light variable winds. 6: Mostly sunny and again fairly mild high 44 with light W winds. Early spring-like day. 7: Partly cloudy with SW breezes and fairly steady seasonal temperatures all day. LIGHT SNOW - WINTER RETURNS 8: Becoming cloudy again overnight with light snow developing by mid-morning and continuing all day and evening but with very little accumulation after 3pm as it was mostly flurries after. Again a quite modest 2.7" snow and .15" water equivalent. 9: Partly cloudy and cool with light W winds. Sun melted about half the snow. 10: Cloudy with temperatures steady around 30, light SW winds. Fine light snow fell late this evening with 0.5" by midnight. 11: Cloudy overnight with occasional flurries. Light snow and snow showers began around daybreak and continued all day and evening with temperatures falling through the teens and NW winds gusting 30+ mph, causing a good bit of blowing and drifting and wind chills below zero at times. By midnight 4.5" of additional snow fell, melting to .25" of water. 12: Very light snow and flurries overnight with gusty W winds continuing to blow & drift snow. Few snow showers, most of it light total 1.3" today and 6.3" for the storm. The high only reached 18 - the coldest high of the winter season so far. 13: Partly to mostly sunny during the day with increasing clouds by evening. Breezy S winds. 14: Cloudy with light S winds and light snow commencing in the early afternoon. The snow didn't stick until after sunset with 1.2" measured and snow tapering off by midnight, 0.19" precip. 15: Low clouds and some drizzle overnight. Mostly cloudy with occasional W breezes. Some PM sun. RAIN 16: Light rain commenced prior to dawn and continued the entire day with fog developing also. Temperatures slowly warmed through the day with a high of 43 this evening. 0.52" of rain. 17: Light rain ended overnight. Became partly cloudy and breezy during the day with gusty SW wind. 18: Mostly clear overnight, partly cloudy early becoming cloudy in the PM hours with gusty W winds developing. A few spits of sleet and rain, not measurable. 19: Slightly colder with light N winds but with partly cloudy skies, clear in the evening. 20: Seasonably cool but a rare 100% sunny day with NO clouds, making for a pleasant afternoon. 21: Mostly cloudy & breezy with some brief bursts of sleet & snow, temperatures rose this evening with some rain showers ending around midnight .19" of rain fell. 22: A couple brief overnight showers, mild & windy. Partly sunny, breezy & mild today. A few PM sprinkles. Mild evening. 23: Mild overnight with variably cloudy skies and occasionally gusty WSW winds. Skies became all cloudy this afternoon with light rain late this evening 10pm-midnight. WINDY - LIGHT RAIN THEN SNOW 24: A couple light showers overnight and again quite mild. Strong SW winds developed in the PM gradually shifting the W with occasional light rain showers and temperatures dropping quickly this evening with sleet then snow showers 0.8" by midnight. Wind gusted to 52 at the airport with thunder-snow reported, though no lightning & thunder was observed here. 25: Very windy all day with light snow, snow showers & blowing snow. 3.3" of additional snow fell. Temperatures steady in the mid 20s all day. Snow began tapering off to flurries late evening. 26: Flurries ended overnight. Cloudy and chilly early, then sunny & milder with most of the snow melting. Moderate W breezes. 27: Clear & seasonably cool overnight, then becoming mostly cloudy, windy & much milder high 55 F. Skies cleared again by sunset - temperatures dropped off quickly this evening. 28: Clear & seasonably cool overnight. Sunny AM, partly cloudy PM with a slow increase in high clouds. Breezy at times with NW winds. HEAVY RAIN - NEARBY T-STORMS - HIGH WINDS 29: Became cloudy overnight with heavy rain beginning around sunrise and continuing through most of the morning and patchy fog developing. Rain ended shortly after noon 1.16" in the 6-hour period. Heavy rain and thunderstorms continued all day just south of here with just a couple of light showers bringing the day's total to 1.22". Some lightning but no thunder heard. Temps rose during the evening. Strong SW winds gusted 40-50 mph after 11pm. High temp 54 very late. MONTHLY SUMMARY February's weather pattern generally followed suit of the previous three months: well above average temperatures, frequent precipitation, below normal snowfall, and variable, windy conditions. It was the 10th of the past 11 months and the 4th consecutive with above normal temperatures. And, by the skin of a tooth - only possible due to the extra "leap" day - the streak of consecutive months with above average precipitation extended to 7. A final-day precipitation rally on the 29th, with a day rainfall total of 1.22", pushed precipitation to 3.43" - merely 0.01" above the mean of 3.42". The heavy rain system caused flooding to our south over western/central MD and northern/eastern WV. It also brought the 2nd major, deadly severe weather outbreak of 2012 to the central US. This was the 2nd straight leap day with a major weather event. On Feb. 29, 2008, 11.5" snow fell (1.23" precip). Otherwise, February was a relatively quiet weather month, with a lack of any really cold air - the low was a very modest 10. The coldest readings occurred during the 2nd week, with the winter's lowest max of 18 on the 12th. The final week was mild, with 5 of the final 8 days in the 50s. Temps finished 4.9 degrees F above normal, despite Phil's forecast of six more weeks of winter. Except for the 29th, precipitation fell frequently in light amounts. Most of the precipitation the 1st half of the month fell as snow, while all but one system during the 2nd half had no measurable snow. Total snowfall was again unimpressive, totaling 16.3", the lowest February total in 8 years of records. Like January, there were no particularly heavy amounts, and the snow that fell did not stay on the ground long. The winter 2011-2012 (Dec-Jan-Feb) snow total of 41.9" was, likewise, the lowest total in 8 years. The Oct. 29th 11" snow storm still stands as the heaviest event of this cold season. Aside from a lack of snow, though February wasn't as windy as January, it was still quite breezy, with a couple of high wind events near the end of the month.