Welcome to March. The new month will start on a sunny and blustery note with high temperatures in the mid-to-upper 30s by this afternoon. A gusty North wind will subside by late-morning, and a fairly quiet stretch of weather can be expected through the end of the week. The official weather statistics for February have been tabulated, and the month was slightly colder and much wetter than normal.
The average temperature last month was 31.1 degrees, which was nearly one degree below the normal of 31.9 degrees. The warmest temperature was 57 degrees on February 18, while the coldest reading was 11 degrees on the morning of February 4. There were two five-day periods --- February 8 through February 12 and February 20 through February 24 --- during which the average daily temperature was below normal. Overall, 16 of the 28 days last month featured colder than normal temperatures.
Twenty-two days last month featured morning low temperatures below freezing, while just three days delivered daytime high temperatures of 32 degrees or below. There were five days with readings of 50 degrees or warmer, including three consecutive days from February 17 through February 19. Two days --- February 14 and February 28 --- saw the mercury climb to 55 degrees.
Nearly four-and-a-half inches of liquid precipitation fell at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford last month. That was nearly an inch-and-a-half above the normal of 2.92. Nearly five inches (4.7") of snow fell in February, two-and-a-half inches below the 7.2-inch normal for the month. There were 11 days with liquid precipitation, but only three days with measured snow. The greatest 24-hour precipitation was 1.54" during February 24 and 25.
Fortunately, we'll enjoy a few quiet days through the end of the week. A cold front will approach late tomorrow, but not before temperatures rebound well into the 40s Wednesday afternoon. Thursday will be mostly sunny and colder with a high near 30. Friday will bring increasing cloudiness with highs in the 30s. The weekend will be cloudy and milder with scattered showers likely and highs in the mid 40s to close to 50 degrees.
Paul
Five years of archived posts from March 2006 through February 2011 can be viewed by clicking here.
