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 is not typically a snowy month – in fact only the 6th snowiest – with an average of 6.3 inches. 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.

Looking back at February 2008

In terms of precipitation, February 2008 offered meager amounts of moisture wtih a mere 0.18 inch - 0.34 inch short of the normal of 0.52 inch. Only five days during hte month had measurable precipitation and only one of those had more than a tenth of an inch. Snowfall as well was below normal with 5.1 inches, 1.2 inches below normal. Of what did fall, more than half fell in a single day on the 5th of the month with 3 inches.

Temperatures for the month were near normal with an average temperature of 34 degrees, just 0.7 degree above normal. The highest temperature of the month was 65 degrees and the lowest was 2 degrees. All 29 days of the month had low temperatures below or at freezing but none below zero. No temperature records were set or tied during the month.

Click here to view the February 2008 climate report.

February 2009 Outlook

The National Weather Wervice 30-day outlook models do not favor any particular temperature or precipitation pattern for this year. For guidance, use the historical norms below.

For More Information

Temperature Normals and Extremes for February

Monthly Temperature, Rainfall and Snowfall Extremes for February

FEBRUARY AVERAGE STATISTICS * Normals & Means, 1971 - 2000
TEMPERATURE
AVERAGE HIGH	47.2
AVERAGE LOW	19.1
MONTHLY MEAN	33.2
DAYS WITH HIGH 90 OR ABOVE	0
DAYS WITH HIGH 32 OR BELOW	4
DAYS WITH LOW 32 OR BELOW	26
DAYS WITH LOWS ZERO OR BELOW	2
PRECIPITATION
MONTHLY MEAN	0.49 INCH
DAYS WITH MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION	6
AVERAGE SNOWFALL	6.3 INCHES (6TH SNOWIEST MONTH)
DAYS WITH 1.0 INCH OR MORE SNOWFALL	2
MISCELLANEOUS FEBRUARY AVERAGES
HEATING DEGREE DAYS	892
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.