AccuWeather.com

By Jon Auciello, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer

Mar 2, 2010; 1:37 PM ET

Share |

A satellite image of mid-Atlantic snow cover on Feb. 7, 2010. (Photo courtesy of NASA)

February 2010 was certainly a memorable month in weather throughout the United States.

The mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions dealt with three blizzards, many areas of the South and South Central states experienced uncommon snow and cold air, and mudslides occurred in California.

Severe Winter Weather

The mid-Atlantic was paralyzed during early February by two blizzards hitting the area within days of each other.

The first occurred on Feb. 5-6. It was a combination of two storms over the mid-Atlantic, one originating from California that tracked across the Southwest to Southeast, while the other moved across the Midwest. It broke snowfall records across the region. Many locations from the Virginias to southern Pennsylvania and New Jersey received between 20 and 40 inches of snow.

Only three days later, the mid-Atlantic was struck yet again by a big snow storm from Feb. 9-11. After moving out of Canada and affecting the Midwest with snow, it took aim at the mid-Atlantic and southern New England. The blizzard unloaded 12 to 18 inches of snow across from Washington, D.C., to Boston, with spots around the Philadelphia area receiving 18 to 24 inches.

The National Weather Service reported that cities such as Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia were pushed over their all-time seasonal snowfall records after this storm passed through.

The the two blizzards were jointly dubbed "Snowmageddon" by President Barack Obama, according to an article by The Associated Press.

Shortly thereafter, a snow storm that brought record snowfall to Dallas, Texas, on the 12th, with 11.2 inches continued eastward into the South, bringing snow to places as far south as the Florida panhandle which almost never experience it. In the wake of this storm, only Hawaii was snow-free on Feb. 13, as all 49 remaining states reported some measure of snow on the ground.

And then there was Snowicane^tm. On Feb. 24-26, the nor'easter dropped 12-24 inches of snow in parts of New England, New York and Pennsylvania. There was strong, tropical storm-force wind throughout the region.

While falling short of official hurricane criteria, the storm did exhibit some qualities of a hurricane.

The storm produced not only torrential rain and flooding in New England, but also a significant storm surge.

"This Northeast snowstorm was marked by very low barometric pressure, comparable to that of a solid Category 2 hurricane," wrote AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski. "A pressure reading of 28.64 inches out of southwestern Connecticut was among the lowest reported."

Mudslides

Heavy rain in Southern California on Feb. 5 caused disastrous mudslides that damaged or destroyed over 40 homes in areas that had previously been charred by wildfires, according to Los Angeles Daily News.

Severe Storms

On the severe weather front, there were 32 reports of severe weather throughout the country, according to the Storm Prediction Center. Nineteen severe wind events and 13 incidents of hail were reported.

However, not a single tornado was reported in the United States during February, a highly unusual figure.