Denver and Thornton Climatological Preview - February 2023

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Denver Climatological Preview - February 2023

A Preview of Denver's February Weather - The Calm Before the Spring Storms

February comes and serves as a bit of a month of transition between winter and spring. Average temperatures start to climb and things are generally pretty quiet.

However, it is still winter and below freezing temperatures at night still remain the norm. February ranks as the third coldest month of the year with an average temperature of 32.5 degrees. Only December and January are colder.

Average high temperatures start out on the first of the month at 44 degrees but climb to 50 degrees by the end. Low temperatures average 17 degrees at the start and 22 degrees by the 29th.

Temperature extremes during the month cover a wide range. The warmest temperature ever recorded in February of 77 degrees occurred twice, once on February 4, 1890 and again on February 28, 2006. Bitter Arctic cold does sometimes intrude and that was the case on February 1, 1951 and February 8, 1936 when the coldest February temperature of 25 degrees below zero was recorded.

February is not typically a snowy month – in fact only the 6th snowiest – with an average of 5.7 inches. Substantial snow totals can be recorded during February however. In 1912 Denver tallied 22.1 inches, the most ever in Denver during the month.

In terms of severe weather, the month joins September and October as being the quietest for Denver.

As we say though, it is a month of transition and as such extremes can and have occurred in the past. From severe cold and snow to beautiful spring-like days we can see it all. Oftentimes the month can lull us into a false sense of spring when the snowiest month – March – has yet to come. Some of the significant February weather events in history include:

In 1883 from February 1st to the 9th a protracted cold period occurred when low temperatures dipped to below zero for 9 consecutive days.
In 1953 a major blizzard dumped 10.6 inches of snow on Stapleton International Airport between the 18th and the 20th.
In 1909 a storm dumped 12.9 inches of snow, in 1912 another dumped 14.2 inches and in 1931 one dumped 12 inches.
On the other hand though, in 2004 February was the 8th month in a row with below normal precipitation. This was followed up in February 2005 with the 2nd driest February on record – a meager 0.02 inches of precipitation. It also was the second least snowiest February (0.5 inch) in Denver's weather history.

February 2023 Outlook

The Climate Prediction Center's long range forecast indicate a continued, overall trend for cooler than normal temperatures. The agency gives most of Colorado a 33 to 40 percent chance of seeing below average temperatures for the month. In terms of precipitation, the long range forecast gives equal chances of at, above or below normal levels.

February Extremes

Denver's Top 5 Coldest Februarys (Mean Temperatures):
17.6 degrees 1899
21.8 degrees 1913
22.2 degrees 1883
22.4 degrees 1989
22.7 degrees 1903

Denver's Top 5 Warmest Februarys (Mean Temperatures):
43.7 degrees 1954
42.3 degrees 1930
41.0 degrees 1925
40.7 degrees 1957
40.5 degrees 1943

Denver's Snowiest Februarys:
22.1 inches 1912
19.5 inches 1942
18.3 inches 1909 AND 1960
18.0 inches 1931
17.5 inches 1959

Denver's Least Snowiest Februarys:
T inches 2009
0.3 inches 1970 AND 1992
0.5 inches 2005
0.6 inches 1925 AND 1954
0.8 inches 1983 AND 1991

For More Information

Temperature Normals and Extremes for February

Monthly Temperature, Rainfall and Snowfall Extremes for February

FEBRUARY AVERAGE STATISTICS * Normals & Means, 1981 - 2010

TEMPERATURE
AVERAGE HIGH	46.2
AVERAGE LOW	18.9
MONTHLY MEAN	32.5
DAYS WITH HIGH 90 OR ABOVE	0
DAYS WITH HIGH 32 OR BELOW	4
DAYS WITH LOW 32 OR BELOW	27
DAYS WITH LOWS ZERO OR BELOW	1

PRECIPITATION
MONTHLY MEAN	0.32 INCH
DAYS WITH MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION	5
AVERAGE SNOWFALL	5.7 INCHES (6TH SNOWIEST MONTH)
DAYS WITH 1.0 INCH OR MORE SNOWFALL	2

MISCELLANEOUS FEBRUARY AVERAGES
HEATING DEGREE DAYS	908
COOLING DEGREES DAYS	0
WIND SPEED (MPH)	8.8
WIND DIRECTION	SOUTH
PERCENT OF SUNSHINE POSSIBLE	70

FEBRUARY EXTREMES
RECORD HIGH	77 DEGREES ON 2/28/2006 AND 2/4/1890
RECORD LOW	-25 DEGREES ON 2/1/1951 AND 2/8/1936
WARMEST	43.7 IN 1954
COLDEST	17.6 DEGREES IN 1899
WETTEST	2.01 INCHES IN 1934
MAXIMUM 24 HOUR MOISTURE	1.01 INCHES IN 1953
DRIEST	0.1 INCHES IN 1970
SNOWIEST	22.1 INCHES IN 1912
MAXIMUM 24 HOUR SNOWFALL	12.0 INCHES IN 1931 (27TH - 29TH)
LEAST SNOWIEST	0.3 IN 1970 AND 1992

* Historical weather statistics gathered from the National Weather Service's Denver / Boulder forecast office data archives.