February 2005 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

Make it 8 Mild Winters Out of the Past 9

Saint Cloud Weather Summary for February 2005 and Winter 2004-2005

   February 2005 ended up being the sixth consecutive milder than normal month. According to the statistics taken at the Saint Cloud Regional Airport, the February average temperature was 22.7°F, 6.5°F warmer than normal. Thus, February 2005 was the 15th mildest February since Saint Cloud records began in 1881 (20 Warmest Februaries/Winters). Since 1990, there have been 7 Februaries that rank among the 20 warmest, including 5 Februaries since 1998. This includes February 1998, the warmest February in Saint Cloud records (average temperature: 29.6°F).

   The irony of the past month is that Saint Cloud had to cool down significantly to place as the 15th warmest winter. The first two weeks of February 2005 had an average temperature of 28.0°F (avg. high 36.9°F, avg. low 19.1°F), more than 14.5°F above normal. In fact, these temperatures were more typical of March 13-16 (March Saint Cloud normals) During Feb. 1-14, 10 daily record warm temperatures were tied or broken, including 9 records in the first five days of February (February Daily Records). Eight of the 14 days had a high of at least 40, while only three days had highs colder than 30. (February 2005 Daily Statistics) There were only three days with a low colder than 11°F and one sub-zero low. If the rest of the month had continued as mild as the first two weeks, it would have ranked as the third warmest February on record.

   However, conditions cooled dramatically during the last two weeks of February. The average temperature of 17.4°F (26.4°F avg. high, 8.4°F avg. low) was near normal for the middle and late portion of February, but 10.6°F colder than the first half of February. Between Feb. 15-28, there was no high milder than 33°F and 7 lows colder than 10°F. The reason for the sudden change was an intensification of two high pressure systems: one along the west coast of North American and the other over Greenland. The strengthening of these highs help to keep northwest flow over the Northern Plains, allowing Canadian air masses to move over the state. These cool air masses lacked the punch of cold air surges in January or December, but still kept us away from the warmest Februaries of all time.

  Overall, the average Saint Cloud meteorological winter (Dec. 1 - Feb. 28) temperature of 17.8°F (avg. high: 26.6°F; avg. low: 8.9°F) was similar to the conditions of the past two weeks. This winter 2004-2005 temperature was 4.6°F milder than normal, no surprise considering that all three winter months had above normal temperatures with December and February dramatically above normal.(Historic Saint Cloud monthly average temperatures) This tied for the 17th mildest winter with 1890-1891 and 1913-1914. Again, 5 of the past 8 winters rank in the 20 warmest winters in Saint Cloud records.(20 Warmest Februaries/Winters)

  As was the case last winter, there were some intensely cold periods during the winter of 2004-2005. The most notable period was during January 13-18, which included 4 consecutive days with the temperature at or below zero (out of 5 for the whole cold season), brought an end to the third longest gap between 4-day below zero streaks. The last time we had four consecutive sub-zero days was January 25-28, 1997. The gap of 7 years, 349 days is the third longest time gap between streaks. The longest streak of consecutive sub-zero days was 7 days, last done in Jan. 13-19, 1994. Despite the intensity of the cold period, Saint Cloud did not stay colder than -10 for a high or -30 for a low. Both were accomplished in January 2004.

Through the morning of March 2, there have been only 26 days with a low of 0°F. At this point, this would be the 11th lowest number of sub-zero lows in a cold season. Again, this would also be the 5th year during our streak of mild winters that would rank in the top 14.

The amount of liquid locked up in that snowfall was also above normal for the month. The February total was 0.97 inch, about a third of an inch above normal. This brings the winter total melted precipitation at the Saint Cloud Airport to 3.23 inches, more than 1.1 inches above normal and ties the Winter of 1915-1916 as the 15th wettest in Saint Cloud records.

February 2005 Statistics

Winter (Dec 1-Feb 28) 2004-2005 Statistics

Saint Cloud Airport and SCSU Cold Season Snowfall 2004-2005

Least Lows of 0°F or Colder During a Cold Season in Saint Cloud