February 2020 and Winter 2019-2020 St. Cloud Weather Summary

Late Winter Snow Surge? Not This Winter (so far)

February 2020 and Winter 2019-2020 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 19 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.

Low Precipitation February

Saint Cloud was having a much snowier than average cold season through the month of January. At the end of January, the 37.5 inch seasonal snowfall was 10.0 inches above average. However, the snow and overall precipitation suddenly stopped in February. Only 1.8 inches of snow and 0.16 inch of total precipitation fell during February. The precipitation drought covered nearly all of northern and much of central Minnesota with half of the area seeing less than 0.10 inch.

That slowed the seasonal snowfall to 39.3 inches, still 5.1 inches above average.

Drier February Aided Potential Spring Flooding Situation, but Future Weather Holds the Key

The snow slowdown is a big contrast to the past two winters, each of which had more than 46 inches of snow during the February through April period. However, the sharp reduction in snowpack across the southern half of Minnesota has somewhat eased the threat for spring snowmelt flooding. The Red River Valley still has a better than 50-50 chance for major spring flooding due to the current snowpack and the saturated ground from the wet growing season. The St. Croix Valley and Upper Mississippi Valley still have an elevated threat.

The snow pack dropped to less than an inch in St. Cloud on March 9. So, there were 102 consecutive days with at least an inch of snow cover in St. Cloud (since November 27). During the average winter, St. Cloud has 86 straight days with at least an inch of snow cover.

Sunnier February, Which Kept Thawing Gradual

The drier weather allowed sunshine to return to St. Cloud. 28 of the 29 February days had at least some sunshine with 17 days having clear sky. That's in contrast to 16 completely cloudy January days.

The clear skies allowed some colder low temperatures. 19 of the 29 low temperatures were colder than 10 degrees with 7 lows of zero or colder. The cold lows made sure that the milder weather late in the month produced only a slow melting of the snow cover. Only 14 days in January had a low colder than 10 degrees.

February Coldest Month of Winter, Only Below Average Month

The colder conditions made February the coldest month of the winter season with an average temperature of 15.5 degrees, 1.5 degrees colder than average.

Meteorological winter covers the months of December, January, and February. This winter averaged 1.5 degrees warmer than normal. Precipitation was 0.8 inch above average with the Dec-Feb snowfall 2.0 inches above average.

Some Early Cold and Snow, But

Overall, this cold season has been notable for its snowfall and some cold outbreaks. St. Cloud had its 5th earliest measurable snowfall on October 11. There was a record cold high of 16 degrees on November 11 and an early season sub-zero low on November 10. However, the overall extremes have been modest. There have been only 28 days with a low of zero or colder, with no days with low of -20 or colder. The coldest temperature this winter has been -19, set on December 11. There were 2 days that remained below zero all day.

The main aspect that this winter has been above average is in the snowfall. Seasonal snowfall to 39.3 inches, still 5.1 inches above average.

February 2020 Statistics

Winter (Dec 1-Feb 29) 2019-2020 Statistics