MONTHLY SUMMARY: FEBRUARY 1997 UPDATED: 3/23/97 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sorrow to pass along to you. The wife of member Jack Stewart (Charlottesville) passed away suddenly on February 28th. Sorry to hear of your great loss Jack. Hope these coming months become easier for you. Enjoy the time you'll be spending with your daughter's family in Charleston, SC and your trip to New Hampshire in May. Joyce Winfree (New Market) has suggested that we go to a subscription method for stamp coverage; that is, you guys would send a check to cover one year so that stamps would not have to be included each month, and I wouldn't have to run a tab of each member's stamp flow. We could do that, but I'm perfectly happy with the way we're doing it now. When your stamps come in, I plop them in a box and use them to mail out the next month's report. I write down how many stamps you sent on your form and file it in the monthly folder. Then, as you've seen, I go back every few months or so and make deposits and debits from the master list. Really is not a problem as long as everyone keeps sending at least 1 stamp per month. Let me know what you think with a post-it or note attached to your next data sheet. (I think I originally responded to her note on this subject by mailing it to John Bullock! Sorry John!!) Looks like our southern city of Wilmington gets the "snowshovel award" for the month, not because of the sleet and snowfall measurement total (1.2") but because it occurred so far south and for its duration, nearly 6 hours (sleet for 3 hours, then snow), with the snow falling heavily at times. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE... Please use the most recent monthly data form I include in the mailing as the it is adjusted monthly for various weather data. Bill ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTES FROM "AROUND THE LEAGUE"- Arlington - NWS WBC noted that DCA experienced its 3rd warmest February (44.7 degrees) at 7.2 degrees above normal! The month started with very warm temps (like January). The first week averaged more than 10 degrees above normal and was followed by a more seasonable mid-month. The 18th saw a return to warm temps. 9 of the last 11 days were in the 60's and 70's! Snowfall totaled 6.5", some 10+ inches below the norm for the entire winter season so far. Bridgewater - (report from Clayton Towers) "The total snowfall for this winter season is 24.1 inches which about average for an entire winter season here in the Shenandoah Valley. Any more snow will put us above average. My cutoff date for any measurable snow in the spring is April 15th. I have not recorded a measurable snow in the spring after this date. The most excitement during the month was the 6.5 inches of snow that fell on the 8th. Otherwise, the weather has been rather boring. The biggest news weatherwise was the extremely warm temperatures during the latter part of the month. The average for the month was 7.5 degrees above normal." Charlottesville - Jack reports near normal precip and snowfall. No major storms but a rather mild month with temps some 4 degrees above normal. Falls Church - Lowell Koontz noted that February was very warm (+5.03") with near average precipitation. The month was the warmest since 1990. The temp never dropped below 23 degrees during the month while the average lowest minimum is 11 degrees! The high of 74 on the 27th was the highest temp since 1985, when the temp climbed to the all-time February max temp of 81 degrees. Fredericksburg - The McKneely family went to Disneyworld in the middle of the month. During that time, Ken and the family unfortunately missed the lowest temp of the month, significant precip, and some 2-3 inches of snowfall which closed schools for one day. The last 11 days of the month were much warmer than normal with highs averaging almost 15 degrees above normal during that time. The lows averaged 36 degrees, almost 8 degrees above normal. 10 days in the month hit 60 degrees or higher, with 8 of those occurring during that 11 days stretch and 5 days in a row at one point. 3 days exceeded 70 degrees. The low temp did not fall below 20 degrees all month! Last February (1996), the low temp dropped to -16 degrees! Hampton - Dave noted a very mild month with temperatures 5 degrees above normal. This ends a very mild winter (Dec.-Feb.) with the exceptions of mid-December and January cold snaps. Temps were normal to above normal each of the meteorological winter months. Herndon - R. M. Beall noted a "wimpy winter (so far) and mild February much like in 1991." Mechanicsville - Rain changed to sleet and then on-and-off periods of snow followed on the 8th. Heavy rain at times of the 14th and 15th. [notes from Glenn Martin] Norfolk - NWS AKQ noted that ORF recorded an average monthly temp some 4.8 degrees above normal while precip was just over « inch below normal. Portsmouth - The monthly mean temp was nearly 5 degrees above normal! Precip was 94% of the normal totals. Ahead of a cold front on the 28th, temps rose to 81 degrees and winds gusted to 49 mph from the SSW. Richmond - NWS AKQ reports RIC had a mean monthly temp some 4.9 degrees above normal while rainfall was 0.55" below the norm. Roanoke - Wendell reports "February was a warm and drier than average month. Temps average 5.1 degrees above the norm. Rainfall was about 0.6" below average while snowfall was 0.9" below average. This was the second warmest February on record at my station. The warmest was 45.4 degrees in 1990." Washington (VA) - "Basically a boring February as far as weather events although a little above average on temperature especially at the end of the month. The frogs in the creek at the bottom of the mountain even started singing on the 27th and 28th." [notes from Dave Yowell] Woodstock - Lauck noted a month that was dry and warm. Brevard - Bob notes that "February 1997 was average compared with my experience beginning in 1990. The 30 day mean heating degree days, 837, compares with a range of 566 to 995 degree days over the past 7 years. During that period, 4 months were warmer, 3 cooler. The 7.10" of rain is the second highest recorded since 1990 when 10.52" fell. Snow in February is a 50/50 proposition here but for the 4th year since 1990 snow was noted: 3.3" (1993), 2.0" (1995), 1.4" (1996), and 3.0" (1997)." Charlotte - According to NWS GSP, Charlotte experienced a February that began and ended with much above normal temps. The middle of the month averaged below normal, primarily due to low max temps. Minimum temps were quite high through the entire month. Precip was evenly distributed throughout the month with wintry precip on the 10th and 13th. Greensboro - Henderson - Interesting comments from George: "Mild, mild, mild!" Raleigh - Bob noted "a very warm February with the mean temps over 5 degrees above normal. Average temps for the winter (Dec.-Feb.) was 2.9 degrees above normal. Raleigh - NWS RDU noted two new daily record high temps set on the 19th and 27th. A new record high minimum was set on the 28th. Roxboro - Columbia - The mean monthly temp was 4.5 degrees above normal while precip was 3/4 inch above the norm. Greenville-Spartanburg - According to NWS GSP, the area experienced a February that began and ended with much above normal temps. The middle of the month averaged below normal, primarily due to low max temps. Minimum temps were quite high through the entire month. Precip was evenly distributed throughout the month with one winter weather event on the 13th that produced sleet and freezing rain. Ruby - Franklin reports that the month was warmer than usual with near normal rainfall. Wilmington - The Port City experienced a very warm month! The mean monthly temp (51.0) was 3.7 degrees above normal. Rainfall totaled 3.86", 0.16" above the norm. Snowfall was recorded at 1.2" on the 10th with sleet noted during the event. The snowfall occurred mostly near the coast with snow falling for 3 hours or more and at times the snow fell heavily. The snow followed 3 hours of sleet. The month was rather cloudy with total possible sunshine calculated at 42% with the norm at 59% Tri-cities - The monthly mean temp was 5.7 degrees above normal while precip was nearly 3/4 inch above normal. [from NWS TRI] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATED MEMBERS' E-MAIL ADDRESSES: (posted by permission) BRE Bob Keehn Bob_Keehn@juno.com BRI Clayton Towers Ctowers@rica.net POR Bill Trotter 71470.1535@compuserve.com wtrotter@whro.org RAL Bob Woodson woods@pipeline.com CEN Paul Bassett III pbassett@nmaa.org WSH David Yowell deyowell@mnsinc.com FCH Erica Page erica@erols.com -----------------------------------------------------------------------------