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Starting a thread with records, stats, and other superlatives from the mid-February winter weather blitz. This may not be everything — there’s too much going on! — but these are the things that I’ve noticed. 
Today, Tuesday February 16, marked the largest fraction of the Lower 48 states covered by snow in at least 18 years. https://twitter.com/nwswpc/status/1361749968516644865
On Valentine’s Day, we had the largest area of the CONUS covered by issued* Winter Storm Warnings in at least 16 years.
* Counts area of WSW after they were issued even if some had not technically gone into effect yet. https://twitter.com/gcarbin/status/1361053537426436098
* Counts area of WSW after they were issued even if some had not technically gone into effect yet. https://twitter.com/gcarbin/status/1361053537426436098
On Friday and Saturday, February 12-13, Seattle (Sea-Tac) and Portland (PDX) had their largest two-day snowfall in about five decades.
11.1” at Sea-Tac, most since 1972
9.4” at PDX, most since 1968
Also further inland...
9.9” at Boise, most since 1996
11.1” at Sea-Tac, most since 1972
9.4” at PDX, most since 1968
Also further inland...
9.9” at Boise, most since 1996
On Valentine’s Day, Central Texas had some record snow. Abilene (14.8”) had their largest storm on record, and San Angelo (10.1”) had their largest calendar day snowfall.
Austin, Texas had its largest two-day snowfall (6.4”) in over 70 years (since 1949) on Feb 14-15, and south-central and southeast Texas cities (including Austin and Houston, among others) have generally seen their coldest readings since 1989.
This event marked the first time @NWSHouston issued a Wind Chill Warning. Looks like Houston Hobby had the lowest (+1°F) wind chill on an hourly observation since 1990 per IEM METAR archives.
Tyler, Texas set an all-time record low of -6 on Tuesday morning (Feb 16), with a 138 year period of record dating back to 1883.
Longview, Texas also set an all-time record low of -5 on the same date, with a slightly shorter period of record back to 1902.
Longview, Texas also set an all-time record low of -5 on the same date, with a slightly shorter period of record back to 1902.
Oklahoma City (-14) and Dallas (-2 at DFW) both had their second coldest temperatures on record, both behind records set during one of the benchmark Arctic outbreaks of 12 February 1899.
Just a quick metric for the magnitude of air mass contrast in the eastern half of the country — 12Z temperature difference between MSP and MFL — was the 4th highest since 1973. https://twitter.com/nwswpc/status/1361848976085946374
Hastings, Nebraska tied an all-time record low with -30 Tuesday morning (Feb 16). Period of record dates back to 1907. https://twitter.com/nwshastings/status/1361710179012677634
Spearfish, South Dakota near the Black Hills set an all-time record low of -33 on Valentine’s Day. Significant period of record that dates back 128 years (1893).
Back on February 10-11, it looks like @NWSMemphis issued the first Ice Storm Warnings for parts of Mississippi and the city of Memphis since 2013. Both areas received at least 0.25” ice accumulation.
Hitting the pause button for now. I’m monitoring a few other records and still need to do more digging. If you see something else noteworthy that isn’t mentioned here let me know!
San Antonio appears to have hit its second longest duration below freezing (4 days, 5 hours) in the observation record after only a late January event in 1951. Also the latest 60+ hour streak. IEM graph wasn’t complete yet for 2021 so I added notes to indicate that.
Oklahoma City has easily set its longest stretch of below 20°F temperatures, and still counting! Closing in on a full week at this point. This is the METAR record plotted, but it’s longer than anything in the daily records back to 1890 as well.
Wichita has also seen its longest duration below 20°F in the modern records — over 10 days now! Still counting, but February 1899 had a stretch of at least 11 days so this may not be an all-time record there.
Chicago is currently in the midst of its longest stretch with at least 10 inches of snow on the ground since 2001. Will reach 18 days today. 5th longest streak on record so far.
This ranking shows coldest days within some of the more notable CONUS cold snaps, and therefore doesn’t account for longevity, etc... but...
In terms of the peak intensity of the cold snap, 3 cases really stand out: Feb 1899, Dec 1983, Dec 1989. Current cold snap a cut behind. https://twitter.com/climatologist49/status/1361795203456139265
In terms of the peak intensity of the cold snap, 3 cases really stand out: Feb 1899, Dec 1983, Dec 1989. Current cold snap a cut behind. https://twitter.com/climatologist49/status/1361795203456139265
Remarkable week for snow in Little Rock — first time with two 6+ inch snowfalls in the same winter and they happened within a few days!
Still snowing heavily at Little Rock, so still climbing up the snow depth and seasonal snowfall leaderboards. https://twitter.com/wxjerdman/status/1362176181408301064
Still snowing heavily at Little Rock, so still climbing up the snow depth and seasonal snowfall leaderboards. https://twitter.com/wxjerdman/status/1362176181408301064
Some of the more significant ice impacts in the past week of wintry weather occurred in Oregon. Multiple reports of at least an inch of ice accumulation from Greater Portland into the Central Willamette Valley. https://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/wx/afos/p.php?pil=PNSPQR&e=202102151818 https://twitter.com/oregondot/status/1360664911999873026
This is true! — first ever Ice Storm Warning issued by NWS Wakefield was for the Feb 13-14 event last weekend. Of course there have been Winter Storm Warnings that included freezing rain as a hazard. https://twitter.com/logangileswx/status/1362224034067406856
Salt Lake City with 11.7” of snow today, setting a February calendar day record and good for the 7th snowiest day on record overall (data back to 1884). Hat tip to @zthaynac on the find! https://twitter.com/nwssaltlakecity/status/1362109003916959746
Extreme localized snowfall near Thompson and Manistique in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan back in the Arctic air mass.
46.5” of snowfall in less than 36 hours on February 12-13! Due to a single band lake effect event off Lake Michigan. Hat tip to @LoganGilesWx for noticing. https://twitter.com/iembot_mqt/status/1361524113173475329
46.5” of snowfall in less than 36 hours on February 12-13! Due to a single band lake effect event off Lake Michigan. Hat tip to @LoganGilesWx for noticing. https://twitter.com/iembot_mqt/status/1361524113173475329
The extreme snowfall in Upper Michigan may need to be further examined as the state record for 24hr snow is 32”. https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/extremes/scec/records
The report was broken down to include an estimated 34” on Saturday, Feb 13. Not sure how precise that was, and needs further examination. https://twitter.com/iembot_mqt/status/1361526217782951937
The report was broken down to include an estimated 34” on Saturday, Feb 13. Not sure how precise that was, and needs further examination. https://twitter.com/iembot_mqt/status/1361526217782951937
One of the things that really continues to stand out about this cold snap is the duration of the cold in the Central and Southern Plains. Add Kansas City to the list with their longest stretch below 15°F. https://twitter.com/NWSKansasCity/status/1362099154122547202
