How Cold Was February? No Colder Than Here!

AccuWeather.com did a preliminary report on the unusual cold in the eastern United States (and warmth in the West) last week. To add to that... first of all, congratulations to AccuWeather.com HQ here in State College; Centre County was the coldest spot in the nation -- an all-time record for average February temperatures according to NCDC. I'm glad, because it sure felt like it!

The state of Pennsylvania, and in fact the entire Eastern Region ranked as #2 coolest, beat only by 1934. The winter (D/J/F) didn't rank in the Top 10, but it was the coldest since 2003 in Pennsylvania, and the coldest since 1994 in New York State. In the West, of course, they've been experiencing unusually warm conditions, helping to even out the month and season for the U.S.

The duration of the cold was also notable here in Central Pennsylvania. That's generally not tracked, but it can make a big difference in personal opinions. For the last 30 days, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, did not see any high temperature above normal:

Another measure of how cold it was is snow amounts. This list of snowfall amounts compared to normal for the Northeast was prepared by the NWS. Notice that, in general, places in eastern New England did very well, while places in the Midwest lacked snow.

Here in State College, Pennsylvania, Penn State recorded snow on all but six days of February, and we approached our normal seasonal snowfall before the end of the month. We've had snow on the ground since Jan. 20, and still do today. I set a new record low for the month of March on Friday.