February 2017 Observations and Discussions

[Niko]

Just cracked 70.5F. Unreal!

[Tom]

ORD hit 70 after the last hourly ob.

It sure felt like it while I was outside soaking it all in.  Even though the Feb sun isn't to strong, I could feel the warmth amid sunny blue skies and light wind.  That's one of the things that is really shocking.  The winds have been so light and normally you need a strong southerly flow to get temps to soar near 70F.  Not the case here.

[Tom]

Longest streak of 60 degree days in Feb is 4 days (Feb 24-27 1976).  We will likely surpass that this year.  BTW, the following 3 winters after that were brutal so lets see if history will repeat down the road.

[jaster220]

Rise and Shine!  It's going to be a gorgeous Saturday around here with full sunshine and likely crushing another record high today.  Old record 62F, forecast is calling for 66F.

 

@ Jaster, Chitown only expecting a lake breeze along the lakefront coming in a couple blocks.  Tomorrow will be chilly along the lake in the 40's.

  

Up to 68F...could we get close to 70F???

Not sure what the temp was on Michigan Ave, but it was hard to remember it's winter aside from zero green growing vegitation. Not even grass. Downtown and the lake front was so busy! Had a great time setting another record - the record draining of my wallet!

[Niko]

Feels and looks like Spring outside.

[Snowshoe]

62° Warmest February day EVER. Well at least in the last 125 years or so.

[NEJeremy]

Broke another record today and could do it again the next 3 days. Tuesday should be the warmest with a high around 76

[gabel23]

I'm enjoying this....grilled ribs in shorts and 70 degree weather tonight!! Just can't believe the stretch of weather we have had. If things come together later in the week and we get half of what is showing; we will have quite the shock to the body!!

[Tom]

I'm enjoying this....grilled ribs in shorts and 70 degree weather tonight!! Just can't believe the stretch of weather we have had. If things come together later in the week and we get half of what is showing; we will have quite the shock to the body!!

Mmm, sounds delish!  Local mets are forecasting low 70's here on Wed!  Unheard of TBH...def living through history in the making around these parts.  Mother Nature will throw some "pay back" starting later this week for you!

[jaster220]

Mmm, sounds delish!  Local mets are forecasting low 70's here on Wed!  Unheard of TBH...def living through history in the making around these parts.  Mother Nature will throw some "pay back" starting later this week for you!

 

Not sure about the Unheard of part. Seems to me, when I was living in S. Bend circa Feb '98 and/or '00 they both featured 70+ degree readings there. Nearly 2 decades ago, so yeah, it's not something we see all the time. I'd say what is "unheard of" is the length of the warmth. For that, I think you have to go back about 4 decades ('76) to see anything similar. This will likely set an all-time (for our short history of wx records that is) bench-mark for Feb torching though. Not sure I really want to see winter's return after this spring teaser..  

[Tom]

Not sure about the Unheard of part. Seems to me, when I was living in S. Bend circa Feb '98 and/or '00 they both featured 70+ degree readings there. Nearly 2 decades ago, so yeah, it's not something we see all the time. I'd say what is "unheard of" is the length of the warmth. For that, I think you have to go back about 4 decades ('76) to see anything similar. This will likely set an all-time (for our short history of wx records that is) bench-mark for Feb torching though. Not sure I really want to see winter's return after this spring teaser..

 

That was the meaning behind the statement.  After recording a record high temp of 70F on Sat and 69F on Sunday, I've never heard of near 70F temps in a stretch of 5 days in late Feb.  Maybe 1 or 2 days but to have soo many days baking near 70F is impressive and with barely any wind!

[BrianJK]

records continue to crumble around here.  Look to tie the longest Feb stretch of 60's today, break it tomorrow, then break the longest stretch of 60s ever recorded in meteorological winter on Wednesday - not to mention the longest stretch of consecutive days w/o 1" of snowfall. 

[gosaints]

 A nice spring thunderstorm currently

[jaster220]

records continue to crumble around here.  Look to tie the longest Feb stretch of 60's today, break it tomorrow, then break the longest stretch of 60s ever recorded in meteorological winter on Wednesday - not to mention the longest stretch of consecutive days w/o 1" of snowfall. 

 

Can't say we're not living in historic times, just not the history I was hoping to make going into this winter, lol

[Hawkeye]

The rain didn't begin here until afternoon, but the clouds held our max temp down to 60.  I'm looking forward to seeing how warm we can get Wednesday.

[Steblow]

could use a little more warmth before cool down.. lake breeze and clouds sorta put a cap on the extra niceness it could be.

[gosaints]

Torrential downpour now

[Hawkeye]

Our rain today won't add up to too much, but we're getting a few brief heavy downpours.  I love heavy rain.

[Tom]

Set another record high of 69F. I can get used to this.

[Tom]

Heard ORD touched 70F according to Brant Miller (TV met)

[gosaints]

.9 inches of rain today.  Will probably hit an inch with the last batch coming thru

[Snowshoe]

Another record high before the .7" rain this evening. Extremely thick fog. Could barley see 5 feet in spots on my drive home. Nasty nasty stuff.

[Tom]

592" and counting in the Sierra!  Unbelievable snow bank...

 

[james1976]

All time February records on table tomorrow. 70s forecasted.

[VMB443]

With this crazy February weather the daffodils have started to come up already. They are going to be in for a rude shock after this week.

[Hawkeye]

0.31" of rain here yesterday.  My daffodils are popping as well.

[westMJim]

Here are several live web cams from Michigan’s UP

http://www.exploremunising.com/web-cams/

and

http://www.jamadots.com/webcams

as you can see while there is still snow on the ground up there it still looks like “spring” even in that part of the state.

And one more from Michigan Tech. Where there is more snow on the ground but less than one would expect in February.

http://www.mtu.edu/webcams/

 

daffodils and Tulips are popping up here as well. That is not all that unusual but we generally still have snow on the ground. Today's rain could get the grass to "green" up! 

[NEJeremy]

Now running at 10 degrees above normal for the month. Wonder what the record is? 

[Tom]

It's warm and more humid out there today.  Can't believe I'm seeing mid 50's dew points in late Feb.  Hope the sun pops out today so we can reach or set another record.

[Steblow]

clear line finally making it to lake front.. should be off to the races now.  gonna go get some vitamin d

[Niko]

It feels so nice outside and it has been nice ova the last couple days that I actually do not want winter back this rest of the season. Afterall, its March in  a week. After experiencing this gorgeous weather and warm temperatures, I can honestly say that Spring mode has struck.

 

Btw: My temps might be in the 70s tomorrow. Crazy stuff.

[WBadgersW]

592" and counting in the Sierra! Unbelievable snow bank...

 

Holy crap. I wonder if any of that will be around in early July.

[Tony]

"67 Days and Counting"

 

Congratulations for the Chicago peeps for breaking another record...this one of course is not for temps but for the snow drought we have been in. How many more days will we add onto this historic occasion.

[Tom]

"67 Days and Counting"

 

Congratulations for the Chicago peeps for breaking another record...this one of course is not for temps but for the snow drought we have been in. How many more days will we add onto this historic occasion.

You forgot also today marks the 6th consecutive day of 60+ degree days in Feb...which has never been done before...

[Tony]

You forgot also today marks the 6th consecutive day of 60+ degree days in Feb...which has never been done before...

Two extremes...who would have thought this was even possible.

[Niko]

Two extremes...who would have thought this was even possible.

Look at the bright side of all of this...at least your are breaking records

[BrianJK]

Sounds ridiculous to say in February , but I'm am not looking forward to the return of 40s and 50s.

[Hawkeye]

As models suggested, the max warmth ended up in the full sun area between the morning fog to the east and the approaching front.  Cedar Rapids hit 76, blowing away the old February record(73).

 

I saw the first robin and first red-winged blackbird today, 2-3 weeks earlier than any of the last several years.

[NEJeremy]

we hit 75 yesterday breaking a record and I believe 72 the day before tying a record, so I believe this week's warmth broke or tied 4 records. We're now 11.4 degrees above normal for the month!

[Tom]

Currently sitting at 45F with a stiff breeze coming out of the NE off LM.  Gotta say, it's a shock to the system.  You guys who will be getting smacked with a snowstorm will have to reset into Winter mode!