SUBJECT: Warm, but no cigar
2000 February and 1999-2000 Winter St. Cloud Weather Summary
With the passage of Leap Day and the accompanying temperature
records, the official meteorological winter (Dec 1-Feb 29) has passed,
and for the third straight year, it wasn't much of a winter. The average
temperature of 18.7 degrees was more than six and a half degrees milder
than normal. This was the mildest winter since way back in.....uh two
years ago. The winter of 1997-1998 still ranks as the second warmest winter
on record with an average temperature of 23.0 degrees. However, this winter
did beat last winter for warmth (average temperature of the 1998-1999 winter:
18.1 degrees).
We are also ahead of last year in the low number of below zero lows.
So far this year, we've had only 25 of them, the 5th lowest total on record.
Last year, there were 29 below zero lows. Of course, the fewest total on
record was set two years ago with only 16 in 1997-1998.
February 2000 in St. Cloud again was extremely mild, averaging nearly
seven degrees above normal. Was this a record? Actually, it was an arctic
blast compared to the past two Februaries. February 1998 was the warmest
February on record (29.6 degrees) while February 1999 ranked as the 7th
warmest February on record (25.0 degrees). We had to endure a February
with only an average temperature of 22.1 degrees this year. While the
previous two Februaries produced a grand total of one night with a low
below zero, we had to "endure" through 5 whole nights of below zero
lows this past month. What is the average number of nights with a below zero
low in February? How about 12.3!
The one feature which did distinguish this February from the previous
years was the snowfall. St. Cloud picked up 8.4 inches of snow this month,
nearly an inch and a half above normal and the most February snow since
1994 when 11.5 inches fell. The combined January and February snowfall
gave St. Cloud just about a normal snow cover by the middle of February.
Of course, this strip of deep snow helped to keep the ground cold enough
to produce last week's 5 straight days of cloudiness, including four
straight days of thick fog. This snow also helped us to catch up to last
year in seasonal snowfall, although we are still more than 8 inches behind
for the year.
So what do all of these numbers really mean to us? We have had
three extraordinarily mild winters consecutively. We haven't had a low
temperature colder than -25 since December 26, 1996. In the past three years,
we have had only 4 days with a high temperature below zero, none coming this
year. We have only had four days with a single day snowfall more than 4
inches since January 1997. We had basically only 6 consecutive weeks of snow
cover this year and have seen the ground bare both in late December and
February for the third straight year. Finally, this was the second consecutive
years of forecast cold and snowy winters in Minnesota. Hopefully, long-range
forecasters will be a bit more careful before blaming it on La Nina in the
future.
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FEBRUARY 2000 STATISTICS FEB 2000 NORMAL
TEMPERATURE
Average High 32.5 24.8
Average Low 11.7 3.8
Average Temp 22.1 14.3
Warmest high temperature 55 on the 29th (broke record;see below)
Coldest high temperature 12 on the 11th
Mildest low temperature 39 on the 25th
Coldest low temperature -13 on the 11th
Record temperatures:
Daily warm high: 55 on the 29th (old record: 48 in 1964)
Daily warm low: 37 on the 29th (old record: 30 in 1964)
MELTED PRECIP (in) 1.03 0.63
Most in 24 hours 0.36 on the 25th
SNOWFALL (in) 8.4 7.0
Most in 24 hours 2.2 on the 17th
Seasonal Snowfall (Oct-Feb) 24.8 33.3
WINTER STATISTICS WINTER 1999-2000 NORMAL
Average High Temp 28.9 22.1
Average Low Temp 8.4 2.1
Average Temperature 18.7 12.1
Total Melted Precip(in) 2.01 2.20
Snowfall (in) 23.7 26.0
ST. CLOUD TEMPS--FEWEST LOW TEMPERATURES OF 0 DEG OR LOWER
FEBRUARY COLD SEASON
0 1987 16 1997-1998
0 1998 17 1986-1987
1 1999 22 1918-1919
2 1954 22 1941-1942
3 1926 25 1999-2000 <-- 5TH LOWEST (SO FAR)
3 1935 29 1908-1909
4 1930 29 1990-1991
4 1938 29 1998-1999
4 1984 30 1931-1932
4 1992 30 1982-1983
5 (6 YEARS INCL 1990) 31 1937-1938
31 1943-1944
31 1957-1958
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Bob Weisman, Meteorology Professor SUPERVISOR: Shirley (age 7 1/2)
Earth Sciences Department PHONE: (320) 255-3247 (V)
MS 48 (800) 627-3529 (TTY via
Saint Cloud State University Minnesota Relay Service)
720 4th Avenue South FAX: (320) 255-4262
Saint Cloud, Minnesota 56301-4498 EMAIL: scsweisman@tigger.
stcloudstate.edu
Dad: How do you feel?
Shirley: My stomach hurts. My head hurts. My throat hurts.
(5 minutes later)
Shirley: Dah-duh-dee-dee. Dah-de-doo.
Dad: I thought you were sick.
Shirley: I am. Can I have ice cream?
Dad: I wish that when you are sick, you would at least act like you're sick!
THE CURRENT BOSTON SCOREBOARD
Red Sox: lost 11 of last 12 ALCS games; no title since 1918
Bruins: 2 wins in past month...no Stanley Cup since 1972
Patriots: Great! They stole a coach back from the Jets whose career record
is......35-44????
0-3 in title games (avg score: Opps. 41 Patriots 14)
Celtics: Recreating Sherman's march through the south, except they're getting
burned.
Politics: Michael Dukakis (need I say more?)
Donate food daily to the world's hungry at no cost to you.
Click on http://www.hungersite.com/
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