February 2015: Just How Cold Was It?

This last month was certainly one for the record books in many parts of the Northeast! After a relatively quiet start to the winter, February was a brutal reminder that old man winter would have a strong hold on us. Between the bitter cold and frequent snow and ice events, many are already searching for signs of spring. However, let's take a step back and review exactly what happened, and just how unusually cold this past February was.

Cold air, particularly the arctic plunges we experienced, were the result of a trough. This trough allows cold air to funnel down into our area from Canada, as well as provide for a number of disturbances to cross our path. Why did this trough form over us? The answer: a persistent ridge to the west! While we were wallowing in the cold and snow, the West Coast was under high pressure and warmer/drier than normal conditions. Although this may sound like a blessing to us, it has actually exacerbated California's drought due to the lack of storm systems.

The picture below shows what happens when this kind of ridge/trough pattern shows up: warmer than average temperatures to the west, colder than average temperatures to the east.

 

A temperature outlook, issued February 10th, for the end of February. Courtesy of NOAA. Much of the Northeast had an 80% chance of seeing below normal temperature.

 

Now: just how cold was it? The graph below depicts the average temperatures for this past February in cities across the Northeast in red, with the normal averages for February in blue. Notice how significantly colder this February was, with a difference of 10 degrees (give or take a degree or two) from the normal!

With such a significant departure, many cities broke records across the Northeast. Worcester, Hartford, and Islip each experienced their coldest month ever on record, with bitterly cold averages for the month of 14.2, 16.1, and 21.4 degrees, respectively. Compare this to their normal average temperature of 25.5, 28.0, and 32.6 degrees, and you can see why many people were wishing for spring warmth sooner than later.

New England and Long Island weren't the only areas to break records. Up in northwestern NJ, Sussex took the cake for an all-time record for the month of February at 14.5 degrees, a whole 12.5 degrees below normal. Not surprisingly, delayed openings for schools were initiated as a result of the bone-chilling temperatures in northeastern Pennsylvania and northwestern New Jersey, such as on February 20th, where low temperatures were in the negative teens in some spots.

Although it may not have been the coldest month for some, many cities experienced their second-all time coldest February (shown below), finishing just shy of the record February lows experienced in 1934 and 1979.

The winter of 2015 (though not entirely over just yet!) certainly will be another brutal winter to remember. Although New England may have won out this year in the snowfall category, all of the Northeast was able to share a piece of the near record-shattering pie when it came to the February cold.