February 2018 and Winter 2017-2018 St. Cloud Weather Summary

February Coldest Winter Month by Far

February 2018 and Winter 2017-2018 Saint Cloud, MN, Weather Summary

Note: This is a summary of meteorological winter, which is defined as the three coldest months of the year (1 December through 29 February). Astronomical winter ends on the spring equinox, which will be on March 20 this year. That's the day when we get back to 12 hours of daylight. Also, note that the cold season can be used to refer to the part of the year when Minnesota can get snow (typically Oct-Apr, but can be longer) or the heating season (July 1-June 30). No, the groundhog doesn't work in Minnesota.

After a modestly mild December and a modestly cold January, February ended up being the coldest month in the 2017-2018 winter. According to the statistics from the St. Cloud Airport, the temperature averaged 9.4 °F, 7.6°F colder than average, and the 27th coldest February in St. Cloud records, which date back to 1896. The average February low temperature was -3.1°F, 10.3°F below average. Over the past 38 years, only Feb. 2014 (-5.5 deg), Feb. 2001 (-5.1 deg) and Feb 1989 (-7.1 deg) were colder than the low in February 2018.

St. Cloud added 17 days with a low of zero or colder during the month, which was more days than during the entire mild winter of 2015-2016. This brought the cold season toatl to 41 days, three more than average. During the past 16 winters, there have been only 5 winters with at least 41 lows of zero or colder. This represents how rare cold winters have been during recent winters. There were no further days that stayed at zero or colder all day, so the 2017-2018 cold season finished with 5 such days, only one of 4 winters with at least 5 such days since 2001. The average number is 4.

The coldest temperature in February was -19 degrees, so the number of days with a -20 or colder low was 2 days with the coldest low being -24 on December 31. The coldest high was -8 on December 30.

The other main change from earlier in the winter was the succession of snowstorms. Through February 18, the St. Cloud Prison was nearly 11 inches below average in snow for the season. But, the last 10 days of February produced 13.2 inches of snow, including 6.0 inches on February 25. It was also St. Cloud's first daily snow of at least 5 inches since November 30, 2015 (St. Cloud has added a second 6.0 inch snowfall day on March 5, which did break the daily record). The February total snowfall was 16.1 inches in St. Cloud, the 11th snowiest February in St. Cloud records. February 2018 fell 0.4 inches short of tying February 1953 for 10th place. The most recent years among the 10 snowiest are 17.8 inches in 2001 (8th place) and 16.8 inches in 2013 (9th place). The February record is 21.6 inches, set in 1971.

The snowfall has continued into early March, as noted above. The seasonal snowfall through March 12 is 39.5 inches, more than an inch above average (38.2 inches) and more snow than in any of the past three cold seasons.

The liquid included in the snowfall was 1.40 inches in February, more than double the 0.59 inch average and about 70 percent of the winter total of 2.08 inches.

Cold and snowy weather dominated the Northern Rockies and the Plains from Montana and Wyoming through the Dakotas into Minnesota. However, this was in contrast to the generally milder than average temperatures seen in the US during February and the whole winter. The East Coast and the West had warmer than average temperatures while the Northern Rockies and Northern Plains were colder than average with above average snowfall, especially in the Northern Rockies. A series of low pressure systems that strengthened as they moved from the Northern Rockies into the Plains ensured plenty of cold season precipitation. There have been some significant snowstorms in the Northeast, but the snow has been followed by rapid thawing.

One of the hot spots was Alaska, which was more than 9 degrees warmer than average for the winter, especially along the North Slope of the Arctic Ocean.

February 2018 Statistics

Winter (Dec 1-Feb 28) 2017-2018 Statistics