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.

January wrapped up with below normal snowfall but due to storms earlier in the snow season, we remain ahead of average for the season. However, it would be nice to pad those numbers a bit with more snow in February.

Looking back at February 2009

Denver suffered through a very dry February last year - the least snowiest on record. Only a trace of snow was recorded at the official measuring station at Denver International Airport. That is far below the normal of 6.3 inches for the month. As we have said before however, new weather records taken since the move to DIA in 1994 should have an asterisk next to them. Thornton fared better than the official measurement with 1.9 inches. The month did continue a trend seen last year of below normal snowfall up to that point. By February 28, 2009, a mere 16.9 inches of snow had been recorded for the season - 22.7 inches below the normal of 34.6 inches.

That low snowfall amount further translated to dismal precipitation measurements. A mere 0.04 inch was recorded which put the month in a tie for the 4th driest February with 1925 and 1908. Here in Thornton we again recorded more, 0.08 inch.

Temperatures for February 2009 were well above normal. Average temperature for the month was 37.3 degrees which is 4.7 degrees above the normal. While it was a mild month, it wasn't warm enough to reach 'top 10' status. Thornton was just a bit warmer with an average temperature of 37.7 degrees. Officially, the warmest temperature of the month was 68 degrees and the lowest was 1 degree. Again, Thornton experienced warmer temperatures with a high of 71.1 degrees and a low of 11.6 degrees.

A high wind speed of 52 mph was recorded on the 17th at DIA. Thornton had extreme wind that day as well recording 54.1 mph - the highest ThorntonWeather.com has recorded in its more than three years of operation.

Click here to view the February 2009 climate report.

February 2010 Outlook

The 30 day outlook from the Climate Prediction Center would indicate a relatively normal February is on tap. Use the historical averages below for guidance.

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.