I looked at our weather record book and noticed that the last time the average monthly temperature was below normal happened in February of 2011. The average temperature that month was 31.1 degrees, which was less than one degree (-0.8) below normal. The warmest stretch has happened over the last three months, when the average monthly temperature was more than five degrees above normal in December, January, and February.
Take a look at the following chart, which shows the average monthly temperature as compared to the normal value for each month.
Month/Avg. Temp./Normal Temp./Departure
- February 2012 37.8 31.9 +5.9
- January 2012 35.7 30.1 +5.6
- December 2011 41.1 35.4 +5.7
- November 2011 49.8 45.5 +4.3
- October 2012 57.0 54.9 +2.1
- September 2011 70.1 66.2 +3.9
- August 2011 74.8 73.3 +1.5
- July 2011 77.6 74.0 +3.6
- June 2011 69.5 68.0 +1.5
- May 2011 61.1 59.0 +2.1
- April 2011 50.4 48.9 +1.5
- March 2011 39.7 39.5 +0.2
- February 2011 31.1 31.9 -0.8
Much cooler air will arrive this weekend, and it will be quite windy, especially Saturday, after the cold front crosses the region. In fact, Sunday's high temperatures may not escape the 30s. However, since it has been much warmer than normal thus far this month, the colder air this weekend should affect our strea of 12 straight months of above-average temperatures. March begins exactly one week from today. I wonder how long this streak will last?
Paul
Paul
