VIRGINIA

Annandale - " February was above average in temperature and precipitation. The February total precipitation was 3.91 inches, which made it the fifth wettest February in the past 28 years. Two days had more than one inch of precipitation on the first and thirteenth and both were precipitation records for the date. The month had ten days with measurable precipitation and a precipitation departure of +0.93 inches. The mean monthly temperature for February was 38.5 °F which was the highest since 2002 making it the twelfth warmest February in the past 28 years with a +1.3 °F departure in temperature. The maximum temperature for the month was 73 °F on the 18^th the highest in February since 2002 and the warmest February day since February 25^th 2000. Only five times in the past 28 years has February had a higher maximum temperature. February had 20 days with the temperature at or below freezing with 19 days being the average and 26 being the record. February had only 2 days that the temperature never went above freezing with 2.7 days being the average and 9 being the record set in 1996. The lowest minimum in February was 14 °F which was recorded on the 11^th and the highest minimum in February was 56 °F on the 6^th which was the third highest in the past 28 years and the is 60 °F. The 36 °F temperature range on February the 18^th was the highest in February since 1999 when 37 °F was recorded; the maximum for the 28 year period is 39 °F. Also the 60.4 °F dew point recorded on the 6^th at 2254 was the highest ever recorded in the month of February. (Records since 2003) February had only 0.6 inches of snow the least since 2004 when 0.1 inches was recorded. Only six of the past 28 Februarys have had less. February was also the cloudiest February since 2003. The maximum gust of 44 mph from the WNW on the 10^th at 1548 was associated with a cold front. The maximum barometric pressure was 30.54 inches on the 29^th the highest in February since 2005 and the lowest pressure was 29.32 inches on the 26^th. WINTER SEASON 2007-2008 This was the 13th driest winter in the past 28 years. 8.93 inches total seasonal precipitation, the average is 9.46 inches Departure of -0.53 inches 2002-03 Maximum is 15.74 inches (28-Years of Data) 2001-02 Minimum is 3.63 inches This was the 10^th warmest winter in the past 28 years. 38.2 °F seasonal mean temperature, the average is 36.5 ° Departure of + 1.7 ° F 2001-02 Maximum is 41.8 °F (28-Years of Data) 1993-94 Minimum is 31.7 °F This was the 7^th least snowfall DEC.-FEB. past 28 years. Total snowfall was 7.6 inches the least since 2001-02. The average is 17.5 inches; the max. is 48.8 inches in 1995-96.There were 10 daily records set. February DAILY Records Tied or Broken- (28-Years of records): 2 HIGH temperature: Feb. 6, 7; 1 LOW maximum temperature record: Feb. 20; 1 HIGH minimum temperature: Feb. 6; 1 LOW minimum temperature: Feb. 21; 1 HIGH range temperature: Feb. 18; 1 LOW range temperature: Feb. 13; 2 HIGH precipitation: Feb. 1, 13; 1 HIGH snowfall record: Feb. 20. - [ + + ] – report from Lowell

Arlington – "February continued the pattern of above normal temperatures. Ten of the last twelve months had above normal temperatures. The last month of below normal temperatures was in April of 2007. Precipitation averaged above normal but snowfall averaged well below normal... -4.2 inches. Only one inch of snow fell for the entire month and all of this occurred on the 20th. It was the least snowiest month since February 2004. There were no other days with measurable snowfall...but a trace of snow was recorded on three other days. There were two significant ice storms that occurred. One was on the 12th and the other was on the 22nd. For the period of meteorological winter...Dec 1st 2007- Feb 28th 2008...the 3-monthly average temperature was 40.9° which is +3.4° above the normal. Snowfall was -8.0 inches below normal...with a 3-month total of 4.9 inches compared to the normal of 12.9 inches. " - [ + + ] – notes from NWS LWX in Sterling

Bridgewater - "The temperature for the month was 5.74 degrees above normal. The precipitation was .36 inches above normal. There was no measurable snow for February. My cutoff date for any measurable snow is April 15. I haven't experience any snow after this date. March usually produces one or two measurable snows. Once in a great while, a snow will occur during the first part of April. The month was rather boring! " - [ + + ] – report from Clayton

Chantilly - " A mild and snowless February. The average temperature ended up 3.5° above normal, just like January. A record high temp occurred on the 6th (72.5°). A trace of snow fell on the 20^th through the 22nd. We were 6.2" below average, with only a trace for the entire month. Total snowfall for the season was only 7.9". Dense fog was observed on the 1st, 5th and 18th. A trace of sleet fell with the snow on the 12th. Freezing rain fell on the 12th (0.19"), 13th (0.13") and 22nd (0.17"). Onward to Spring. The flowers are already coming up. Sorry, snow lovers. Maybe next year?!? " - [ + + ] – Russ reports

Dulles – "February continued the pattern of above normal temperatures. Eleven of the last twelve months had above normal temperatures. The last month of below normal temperatures was in April of 2007. Precipitation averaged slightly below normal and there was no measurable snowfall for the entire month. This has only occurred six other times since 1962. There were trace amounts of snow on the 20th 21st and 22nd. There were two significant ice storms that occurred. One was on the 12th and the other was on the 22nd." - [ + - ] – report from NWS Sterling LWX

Falls Church – " February 2008 was both above average in rainfall and temperature but below normal in snowfall. A record high was set on the 6^th when the mercury soared to 74. The wind storm on the 10^th brought my peak gust for the month at 48 mph and I lost power for 4.5 hours as a result of tree damage at the power substation down the street." - [ -/+ - ] – notes from Windie

Herndon – " February was nearly normal in temperature, and above normal in precipitation. the precipitation fell on and off the entire month. the greatest event came on the 1^st day of the month when we received 1.66 inches of rain with some freezing rain mixed in. the second greatest amount came on the 12/13^th when we received 1.10 inches of rain with some sleet and freezing rain mixed again. we had one more freezing rain event on the 22^nd. we also had some light snow on the 20th and 21^st when we received about 0.2 inches of snow. the total preceip for the month was 3.29 inches which is almost a half inch above normal. for the year we have 4.65 inches which is still over an inch below normal. as for the temperatures, both the average high and low were less than 1 degree from normal. but, the month was hardly this normal we roller coastered up and down with warm periods centered on the 5^th and 18^th when we hit the 70s and colder periods centered on 11/12^th and the end of the month when lows fell into the teens." - [ +/- + ] – report from Randy

Ladysmith – "February temperatures finished above normal, marking the 8th out of the last 10 months with above normal temperatures. Precipitation finished below normal for the 13th time in the last 15 months, and only a trace of snow was a real disappointment in what is historically our snowiest month.." - [+ -] – report from Danny

NORTH CAROLINA

Greensboro – " Climate records for the month of February 2008... 5th... record high of 74 degrees...broke the previous record of 72 set in 1991. 6th... record high of 69 degrees...broke the previous record of 66 set in 1976. 6th... record high min of 60 degrees...broke the previous record of 52 set in 1991. 18th...tied record high of 71...previous set in 1948. The February 2008 North Carolina Weather Review is located here: (http://www.erh.noaa.gov/rah/ncsummaries/MonthlySummary.Feb.2008.doc) [when available]. [ + - ] – notes from NWS Raleigh RAH

Raleigh-Durham RDU – "Except for the coastal areas. precipitation remained below normal in February 2008. Extreme to exceptional drought conditions persisted and temperatures were well above normal. There were several significant rain events that occurred across North Carolina during February, after one of the driest January's on record. The February precipitation totals were generally between 2 and 3 inches across the northwest, ranging to between 4 and 6 inches over the southeast and Outer Banks. These totals were generally less than an inch below normal, except 1 to 3 inches above normal along the coast. Raleigh-Durham totaled 3.16 inches (0.31 inches below normal). Greensboro totaled 2.65 inches in February (0.45 inches below normal). There were a few locations that reported above normal rainfall totals for February. These locations were confined to the coastal sites including: Elizabeth City, Cape Hatteras, and Wilmington. Cape Hatteras tallied a record February rainfall of 6.95 inches. February 2008 temperatures were much above normal across North Carolina. The statewide monthly temperatures generally ranged between 3 and 5 degrees above the 30 year statistical normal. Raleigh-Durham averaged 48.0 degrees for February 2008, which was 5.0 degrees above normal. Daily record high temperatures of 76 and 77 degrees were set on the 5th and 6th respectively. Greensboro averaged 45.3 degrees in February, which was 4.1 degrees above normal. Daily record high temperatures of 74, 69, and 71 degrees were set on the 5th, 6th, and 18th respectively. 5th...record high of 76 degrees...broke the old record of 74 set in 1991. 6th...record high of 77 degrees...broke the old record of 70 set in 1999. 6th...record high minimum of 61 degrees...broke the old record of 52 set in 1991. The February 2008 North Carolina Weather Review is located here: (http://www.erh.noaa.gov/rah/ncsummaries/MonthlySummary.Feb.2008.doc) [when available]. " - [ + - ] – notes from NWS Raleigh RAH.

Raleigh RAL – Bob reports: " Extreme drought conditions continued for central North Carolina. Precipitation for February was 0.09" above normal, but still 2.75" below normal for the year. Even though thunder was observed on two days, there was no severe weather observed. The snow drought continues with no snow observed during February and only 0.50" of snow for the season. " - [ + + ]

NEARBY CITIES

Tri-Cities (TN) – " Tri-Cities received 3.63 inches of precipitation in February, which was 0.23 inches above normal. It ranked in the middle one-third of the 72 years of observations taken in February at Tri-Cities. Measurable precipitation occurred on only 11 days, and only six of those days had more than one-quarter of an inch of precipitation, but two days had more than one-half of an inch of precipitation. The heaviest precipitation fell on the 4th, when 0.93 inches was reported. The wettest February at Tri-Cities was back in 1994, when 7.75 inches was recorded. The monthly-averaged temperature at Tri-Cities was 40.8 degrees, which was 2.8 degrees above normal. It ranked in the middle one-third of observations taken in February at Tri-Cities. One daily temperature record was broken on the 5th when the afternoon high temperature peaked at 71 degrees, shattering the old record of 65 degrees set in 1986. The warmest February at Tri-Cities was back in 1938, when the average temperature was 47.7 degrees. BELOW-NORMAL PRECIPITATION THIS WINTER: Tri-Cities received a total of 10.15 inches of precipitation in winter, which was only 0.16 inches below normal. It ranked in the middle one-third of observations taken in winter at Tri-Cities. The driest winter at Tri-Cities was back in 1940/41, when only 4.54 inches was recorded. ABOVE-NORMAL TEMPERATURES THIS WINTER: The seasonally-averaged temperature at Tri-Cities in winter was 39.3 degrees, which was 2.8 degrees above normal. It ranked as the 21st warmest winter on record at Tri-Cities. The warmest winter at Tri-Cities was back in 1949/50, when the average temperature was 45.1 degrees. " - [ + + ] notes from NWS Morristown, TN MRX