February Adds To Record Breaking Winter

Despite the calendar flipping one month closer to spring, one of the coldest and snowiest winters in Chicago’s 143 year weather history continued. While February was not necessarily as active as December-January in terms of the number of wintry events, the amount of new snow was still impressive. Toward the end of the period, greater temperature swings and varied precipitation types provided some hope that spring was right around the corner.

The month started off just as January had ended – cold and snowy. A widespread fresh 3-5” of snow fell January 31st – February 1st, which as skies cleared, aided in temperatures plummeting below zero for overnight lows. In fact, the snowfall that occurred on the first weekend of February was one of the 13 out of 15 weekends this winter to receive accumulating snowfall or wintry precipitation. Only a few days later, on February 4-5th, another sizable snow storm brought 4-7” of snow to the region including higher totals near Lake Michigan as a result of northeasterly winds and lake enhancement. Through the first five days of the month, 10.8” of snow had fallen – surpassing the average monthly total of 9.1”. A quieter second week of the month only resulted in a total of 2.6” of fresh snow and included the first temperature reading of the month to rise to or above freezing when the high temperatures struck 32 degrees on February 13th.

The second half of the month, while continued snowy, did begin to show some signs of spring. February 17th featured yet another significant snowfall event, when an even 5.0” officially fell at O’Hare. However, the wintry conditions were put on hold for a brief period of time from February 18-20th, 2014. This stretch marked the first time since December 2-4, 2013 that high temperatures topped 44 degrees each of the three consecutive days (O’Hare officially hit 49 degrees on February 20th). In conjunction with the mild temperatures, waves of rainfall and heavy downpours traversed the Chicagoland area that added up to more than 1.00” in many locations. The mild, ‘spring-like’ conditions did not stick around for long as another wave of cold air plunged into the Midwest from Canada. February closed on a fitting note as temperatures failed to climb above 25 degrees four out of the last five days of the month. 

Now that meteorological winter (December 1 – February 28) is over, official statistics have been compiled - and are fascinating to say the least. During the three month stretch, a whopping 67.4” of snow was recorded, ranking this season 3rd all-time since records began in 1884 and only behind the snowy winters during the late 70s. In terms of the record cold, this season also ranks 3rd all-time with an average temperature of 18.8 degrees – a value that is just 0.5 degree away from the number one spot set in 1903-1904. Although breaks in the wintry pattern have occurred during early March, additional shots of cold and snow may continue past astronomical spring, which arrives March 20th.