February Ends Warm and Dry

[sleetstorm]

How is this for the last day of February, a high in the middle seventies, depending on where you live in southeast Texas, with no rain.

[Ptarmigan]

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PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
947 AM CST TUE MAR 1 2011

       ...FEBRUARY 2011 WAS CONSIDERABLY DRIER THAN NORMAL...

          ...TEMPERATURES VARY WIDELY DURING THE MONTH...

THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR FEBRUARY WILL BE ABOUT A DEGREE
COOLER THAN THE 30 YEAR CLIMATE NORMALS YET FEBRUARY 2011 WAS
HARDLY NORMAL. THE FIRST 14 DAYS WERE VERY COLD WITH THE AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE ABOUT 12 TO 15 DEGREES COLDER THAN NORMAL. ALL FOUR
PRIMARY CLIMATE SITES ESTABLISHED RECORD LOW MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES
ON FEBRUARY 3RD. DESPITE THE CONSISTENTLY COLD TEMPERATURES TO
START THE MONTH...ONLY COLLEGE STATION ESTABLISHED A NEW RECORD
LOW TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH. THE NEW RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE WAS
20 DEGREES AND OCCURRED ON FEBRUARY 10TH. WINTER WEATHER MADE A
BRIEF RETURN TO THE REGION ON FEBRUARY 3RD AND 4TH WITH FREEZING
DRIZZLE...SLEET AND SNOW FALLING OVER MOST OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS.
MADISONVILLE REPORTED TWO INCHES OF SNOW.

CONVERSELY...THE SECOND HALF OF THE MONTH AVERAGED ABOUT 14 DEGREES
WARMER THAN NORMAL. THE TWO HALVES OF THE MONTH CANCELED EACH OTHER
OUT LEAVING A MONTH WITH NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES ESPECIALLY OVER
INTERIOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. COOLER WATER TEMPERATURES AND
BOUTS OF SEA FOG KEPT COASTAL COMMUNITIES COOLER THAN NORMAL FOR THE
MONTH.

THE CITY OF HOUSTON RECORDED 12 MORNINGS WITH TEMPERATURES AT OR
BELOW 32 DEGREES. THE RECORD FOR FEBRUARY IS 14 DAYS WITH
TEMPERATURES AT OR BELOW 32 DEGREES AND THIS OCCURRED IN 1895. THE
SECOND HALF OF THE MONTH WAS MUCH WARMER. THE MONTH ENDED WITH 14
CONSECUTIVE DAYS WITH MINIMUM TEMPERATURES ABOVE 50 DEGREES. THE
LAST TIME HOUSTON RECORDED MORE THAN 14 CONSECUTIVE DAYS WITH
TEMPERATURES ABOVE 50 DEGREES DURING FEBRUARY OCCURRED DURING FEBRUARY
1962 WHEN THERE WERE 19 CONSECUTIVE DAYS ABOVE 50 DEGREES AND 24
SUCH DAYS DURING THE MONTH.

HERE ARE THE FIVE COLDEST AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURES FOR THE FIRST 14
DAYS OF THE MONTH:

         HOUSTON      HOUSTON       COLLEGE      GALVESTON
                      HOBBY         STATION

         28.1 2011    31.5 2011     27.4 2011    33.8 1895
         29.1 1899    35.8 1947     30.6 1905    34.5 1905
         29.7 1895    36.9 1978     30.9 1985    34.6 2011
         32.4 1985    37.2 1985     34.4 1982    34.9 1899
         32.5 1905    37.2 1981     34.4 1972    38.9 1985

HERE ARE THE FIVE WARMEST AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURES FOR THE LAST 14
DAYS OF THE MONTH (FEB 15 - FEB 28):

         HOUSTON      HOUSTON       COLLEGE     GALVESTON
                      HOBBY         STATION

         59.5 1956    61.6 2011     58.2 2011    61.1 1882
         59.0 2011    58.0 1956     54.0 2005    60.4 1956
         58.9 1917    57.5 1944     53.4 1996    60.3 1907
         58.1 1962    57.4 2000     53.1 1917    60.3 1890
         57.4 1944    56.4 2005     52.1 1956    59.3 1972

MOST OF THE COMMUNITIES ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS RECEIVED LESS THAN AN
INCH OF RAIN DURING FEBRUARY. THIS LATEST DRY PERIOD ACTUALLY BEGAN
DURING THE LAST WEEK IN JANUARY AND HAS PERSISTED THROUGH THE MONTH.
HOUSTON HOBBY REPORTED IT`S SECOND DRIEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD.
HOUSTON RECORDED IT`S EIGHTH DRIEST FEBRUARY...COLLEGE STATION
RECORDED IT`S TENTH DRIEST FEBRUARY AND GALVESTON RECORDED IT`S 13TH
DRIEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD. NORMAL RAINFALL FOR FEBRUARY IS BETWEEN
2.50 AND 3.00 INCHES. THE LA NINA PHASE HAS BEGUN TO REASSERT ITSELF
AND IT APPEARS THAT SOUTHEAST TEXAS WILL REMAIN WARM AND DRY THROUGH
MID MARCH.

BELOW ARE THE MONTHLY CLIMATE STATISTICS FOR THE THE PRIMARY AND
SECONDARY CLIMATE SITES ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS:

SITE       AVG     AVG     AVG     DEP     RAIN     DEP
           HIGH    LOW     DAILY

IAH        66.5    43.5    55.0    -0.4    0.69     -2.29
HOU        67.0    46.5    56.8    -0.9    0.34     -2.67
GLS        61.0    46.2    53.6    -4.4    0.67     -1.94
CLL        66.5    42.8    54.6    +0.1    0.61     -1.77
CXO        65.5    39.1    52.3    -1.3    0.61     -2.30
UTS        64.5    41.6    53.0    +0.0    0.37     -2.77
SGR        66.8    43.5    55.2    -0.8    0.75     -2.37
DWH        66.2    41.4    53.8    -1.1    0.30     -2.59
LBX        65.8    44.5    55.1    -1.2    1.13     -3.63
LVJ        65.0    44.4    54.7    -1.3    0.36     -2.46
PSX        64.8    46.5    55.6    -0.2    0.72     -1.73
HGX        64.7    44.1    54.4    -2.3    1.56     -1.89

BELOW ARE SOME MONTHLY RAINFALL TOTALS AND COLDEST TEMPERATURE
RECORDED FOR THE MONTH AT OTHER COMMUNITIES ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS
FROM OUR NETWORK OF VOLUNTEER CO-OP OBSERVERS:

COMMUNITY          RAINFALL       COLDEST
                                  TEMPERATURE

ANAHUAC             0.82             20
BELLVILLE           0.76             17
BRENHAM             0.81             17
CLEVELAND           0.85             18
COLUMBUS            0.61             19
CROCKETT            0.70             16
DANEVANG            0.62             21
FREEPORT            0.84             24
HOU WESTBURY        0.86             NA
KATY                0.05             NA
MADISONVILLE        0.71             16
MATAGORDA           0.61             21
NEW CANEY           0.96             NA
RICHMOND            0.53             NA
SOMERVILLE          0.41             14
WASH ST PARK        0.64             16
WHARTON             0.83             NA

$$