*** Paul Piorek is editor and publisher of Paul's Local Weather Journal for southwestern Connecticut ... Paul is the on-air meteorologist at WICC 600 AM and 107.3 FM ... Paul is a New York Emmy award winner (2007), five-time Emmy nominee, and four-time winner of the Connecticut Associated Press Broadcasters' Association award for Best TV Weathercast (2006, 2008, 2009, 2012) ... Paul was voted Best Local Television Personality by the readers of Fairfield County Weekly Magazine (2012) ... Paul was inducted into the Housatonic Community College Hall of Fame and received the Distinguished Alumni Award (2012) ... The local weather journal is a two-time winner of the Communicator Award of Distinction (2012 & 2013) ... Paul is currently a full-time teacher of Earth Science and Mathematics in Fairfield ... Follow Paul on Twitter @PaulPiorekWICC ...

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Snowy & Cold February Across Region

If February's weather got you down and made you look forward to Spring, there's a good reason why. It was much snowier and colder than normal. In fact, the average temperature at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford was 3.5 degrees below normal, and nearly three feet of snow fell. Unfortunately, March will start on a cold note, but a major snowstorm will pass to the South of the region Monday.

Thirteen of the first 18 days last month were colder-than-normal, including a stretch of four straight days from February 9th through the 12th when the average daily temperature was at least 10 degrees below normal. Seventeen of the 28 days featured below-normal temperatures. There were 11 days with a maximum temperature of 32 degrees or below and 26 days with a minimum temperature of 32 degrees or below.

The average temperature last month was 28.9 degrees. The highest temperature of 49 degrees occurred February 2 (Groundhog Day) and the lowest temperature of seven degrees happened February 11. February 28 was the coldest day of the month with high and low temperatures of 24 and nine degrees, respectively, making the day 18 degrees colder-than-normal.


February's total snowfall of 32.1" was more than four times greater than the 7.2" normal. There were eight days with measured snow, including four in a row from February 13th through the 16th. A two-day snowstorm on February 13th and 14th dumped over a foot of snow (12.2"), while more than a half-foot of snow fell February 3 (6.7") and February 5 (7.5").

The total liquid precipitation for the month (4.20") was nearly one-and-a-half inches above normal (2.79"). The greatest 24-hour precipitation happened February 5 (1.32"). Overall, there were 11 days with at least a trace of precipitation last month. All of the measured precipitation happened over the first 18 days of the month. There was just a trace of precipitation the last 10 days of February.

March will begin on a cold note with daytime temperatures a good 20 degrees below normal through the middle of the week. However, there aren't any major storms in the immediate future. Some flurries are likely later Thursday into early Friday, but the temperature will slowly rebound later this week and finally reach into the 40s by this weekend.

Paul