Ithaca Climate Summary for February 2003

Temperature

• With an average temperature of 20.5 degrees, the month averaged 3 degrees cooler than normal.
• This was the fifth cooler-than-normal month in a row.
• This February was 10.9 degrees cooler than February 2002 and was the coldest February since 1995.
• The warmest temperature of the month was 49 degrees on the 21st.
• The coldest temperature of the month was -7 degrees on the 26th.
• The string of days with temperatures never rising above 32 degrees, which was in progress at the end of January, was broken with above-freezing temperatures on the 1st-5th. Following that was a new string of 14 consecutive days below freezing.
• Five days this month had low temperatures below 0 degrees. So far this winter, there have been 18 days with lows of 0 degrees or below. This is the most since 23 such days in the winter of 1993-94.
• The average temperature for December-February was 21.2 degrees. This was 3.6 degrees colder than normal and the coldest winter since 1993-94.

Precipitation

• The February precipitation total was 2.50 inches, which represented 121% of normal.
• Five of the last six months have been wetter than normal.

Snowfall

• Total snowfall for the month was 17 inches, 2.9 inches above normal.
• This was 11.7 inches more than last February and the greatest February total since 24 inches in 1994.
• Snowfall for the season totaled 84 inches at month's end, 31.7 inches more than normal.
• The seasonal snowfall through the end of February was the greatest such total since the winter of 1993-94 (85.5 inches) and the fifth greatest October through February total on record.
• There has been at least an inch of snow on the ground every day since December 25th.
• The greatest depth of snow on the ground this month was 11 inches on the 18th.