*** 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 1, 2015

Coldest Month on Record Comes to a Close

It was a month for the record books. Not only was last month the coldest February on record, it was also the coldest month ever on record at Sikorsky Memorial Airport. The average daily temperature in February was 19.9 degrees, which broke the previous record for the month of 24.1 degrees set in 1978. In addition, it was also the coldest month on record, breaking the previous mark of 21.9 degrees, established in January of 2004.



So, just how cold was it? Every day last month was colder-than-normal. The temperature dropped into the single digits 14 of the 28 days (50%), with a record low temperature of -2 degrees February 16. Eighteen days featured an average daily temperature at least 10 degrees below normal, and three days were at least 20 degrees colder-than-normal. Fifteen of the last 16 days of February brought average daily temperatures at least 10 degrees below normal.


Nearly two feet of snow (21.5") fell last month, easily topping the average snowfall for the month (8.1). Sixteen days featured at least a trace of snow, with the jackpot of 10.3" on Groundhog Day, February 2. Nearly four inches of snow fell February 21, and there were four straight days with at least a trace of snow from February 7th through the 10th.


However, as far as liquid precipitation is concerned, just over two inches (2.23") fell in February, which is more than a half-inch below normal (2.79"). The greatest 24-hour precipitation total was just about an inch (0.99") from February 1 through February 2. The greatest snow depth was 14" on February 4 & 22. What a month, to be sure!

Paul