Winter Won't Give Up: Bitterly Cold Finish to February

By: By Chris Dolce

Published: February 23,2014

 

 

 

 

The start of March is a week away, so visions of shedding your heavy coat and placing it into storage might be entering your mind.
Unfortunately, the weather pattern for the final week of February won't cooperate with that thought process, particularly if you live along the northern tier of the United States.

Winter's Frigid Temperatures Hang On

Monday's Highs

• Monday AM Lows

Tuesday's Highs

• Tuesday AM Lows

Wednesday's Highs

• Wednesday AM Lows

Thursday's Highs

• Thursday AM Lows

It's a weather pattern that residents of the central and eastern states are very familiar with this winter, and also probably frustrated with.
The polar jet stream will plunge southward, tapping bitter cold air directly from the Arctic Ocean into the nation's northern tier through the upcoming week. By the middle of the week, much of the South will join in on the shivering, as well.
Let's step through the details of the forecast for the week ahead.

• Where: Below-average temperatures will spill eastward into the Northeast Monday before making a more dramatic southward plunge Tuesday through Thursday. By Wednesday, much of the Midwest, South and Northeast will see temperatures 10 to 30 degrees colder than late-February averages.
• Midwest Region Details: High temperatures in the single digits and teens will dominate from Montana through the Upper Midwest to parts of the Great Lakes; subzero lows will return to parts of the Upper Midwest at times, especially Thursday. Lows will be in the single digits above and below zero. However, teens or 20s below zero are likely near the Canadian border (North Dakota, northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, the U.P. of Michigan).
• City Forecasts: Chicago | Detroit | Fargo, N.D. | Minneapolis | St. Louis | Your Location
• Northeast Region Details: Highs may drop from the 30s into the 20s along the I-95 corridor from Boston to New York City as the week progresses. Lows may fall into the teens by late week. Elsewhere, highs in the teens and 20s will take over locations from northern New England to western New York and eventually western Pennsylvania.
• City Forecasts: Burlington, Vt. | Boston | Buffalo | New York | Philadelphia | Your Location
• South Region Details: Highs in the 40s and 50s will take over a large part of the South by Wednesday. Some 30s are possible in the Mid-South and southern Appalachians. Widespread lows in the 20s and 30s building into the Mid-South and Southern Plains Wednesday, then spreading into the Deep South and Carolinas by Thursday morning, lingering into Friday morning. Below-freezing low temperatures may reach the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and Alabama Thursday morning.
• City Forecasts: Atlanta | Charlotte | Dallas | Little Rock | Nashville | Your Location

As we enter the first week of March, the latest long-range outlook from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center shows that below-average temperatures may continue across much of the country east of the Rockies.

How Cold Has this Winter Been?

According to NOAA, the overall temperature for the Lower 48 in January was near average. This is because we had above-average warmth in the West balancing out the well below-average temperatures east of the Rockies. A total of 18 states from Michigan and Wisconsin to the Southeast recorded a top 15 coldest January.

February 2014

Departure from average temperatures Feb. 1 to Feb. 19, 2014. Darker blue and purple shaded areas in the Midwest have had temperatures the farthest below average. Image credit: NOAA

Below-average temperatures have dominated much of February as well from parts of the Midwest and Plains to the Northeast. This is illustrated by the graphic to the right which shows locations the farthest below average in the dark blue and purple shadings over the Midwest.
In fact, several cities in the Midwest have seen a top 10 coldest February based on the monthly average temperature through Feb. 20, including Chicago, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Green Bay, Wis. Dubuque, Iowa. and Moline, Ill.
Through Feb. 19, Detroit has had its coldest winter since 1978-79, the eighth coldest winter-to-date, there.
Duluth, Minn. has already broken its record of 59 days with subzero lows this winter, including a record streak of 23 straight days with subzero lows from January 20 through February 11.
Green Bay, Wis. is also nearing its record number of days with subzero lows in any winter season, 48 days in 1976-77. The tally stands at 45 days through February 22.
For Minneapolis-St. Paul, the coming cold spell will likely push the Twin Cities into the top 10 for the most subzero temperatures ever recorded in a season. Through Feb. 21, temperatures have been subzero on 42 days this winter. Only three more subzero days are needed to push them into a tie for 10th place. Seven more subzero days would tie for fifth place.
Conversely, above-average temperatures have dominated parts of Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and California.
Of course, eastern North America accounts only for a small part the globe. When looking at the bigger picture, January was Earth's fourth warmest on record dating to 1880, according to a report from NOAA. This past December was the third warmest on record.
MORE: Most Extreme Temperatures in Each State

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#21: New York

The state record high was set in July 1926, and the state record low was set in February 1979.