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000
CXUS55 KBOU 011357
CLMDEN

CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOULDER, CO
656 AM MST FRI MAR 1 2013

...FEBRUARY 2013 ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION AND BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES...

FEBRUARY 2013 STARTED OUT DRY WITH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES. THE
FIRST EIGHT DAYS OF THE MONTH HAD TEMPERATURES IN THE UPPER 40`S AND
50`S WITH VERY LITTLE PRECIPITATION. ONLY 0.01 INCH OF PRECIPITATION
FELL DURING THIS PERIOD FROM A WEAK UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVING
ACROSS THE STATE. COLDER TEMPERATURES RETURNED THE REGION ON THE 9TH
AND CONTINUED THROUGH THE 12TH...AS A DEEP UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE
SYSTEM AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT MOVED ACROSS COLORADO.
HOWEVER...THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM TRACKED TOO FAR TO THE
NORTH...LEAVING DENVER HIGH AND DRY. ONLY A TRACE OF PRECIPITATION
WAS RECORDED AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ON THE 9TH AND 11TH.
THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH THEN MOVED INTO THE CENTRAL UNITED STATES ON
THE 13TH...WHICH PUT COLORADO UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A NORTHWEST
FLOW ALOFT. THIS PATTERN ALLOWED WEAK SURGES OF COLDER AIR TO MOVE
INTO NORTHEASTERN COLORADO...WHICH RESULTED IN BELOW NORMAL
TEMPERATURES AND LIGHT SNOW IN DENVER ON THE 14TH AND 15TH. ABOVE
NORMAL TEMPERATURES RETURNED TO DENVER ON THE 16TH AND 17TH AS UPPER
LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE BUILT OVER THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION. THE HIGH
TEMPERATURE OF 63 DEGREES ON THE 17TH WAS THE WARMEST TEMPERATURE
RECORDED DURING THE MONTH. NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEASTERN COLORADO
EXPERIENCED COLDER AND WETTER WEATHER DURING THE FINAL TEN DAYS OF
THE MONTH AS A SERIES OF STORM SYSTEMS MOVED ACROSS THE ROCKY
MOUNTAIN REGION. THE FIRST STORM SYSTEM BROUGHT 0.22 INCHES OF
PRECIPITATION AND 4.0 INCHES OF SNOWFALL TO DIA FROM THE 20TH
THROUGH THE 21ST. A STRONGER STORM SYSTEM DROPPED OUT OF THE
INTERMOUNTAIN WEST INTO THE FOUR CORNERS REGION ON THE 24TH...THEN
INTO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS STATES BY THE 25TH. THIS SYSTEM PRODUCED
HEAVY SNOW ACROSS THE FRONT RANGE URBAN CORRIDOR...WITH 9.1 INCHES
RECORDED AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. THE 9.1 INCHES WHICH FELL
ON THE 24TH SET A NEW DAILY SNOWFALL RECORD. A THIRD WEAKER SYSTEM
BROUGHT ANOTHER INCH OF SNOW TO DIA ON THE 26TH.

TEMPERATURES:

THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY WAS 30.1 DEGREES F
WHICH WAS 2.4 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. FEBRUARY OF 1954 IS THE WARMEST
FEBRUARY ON RECORD WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 43.7 DEGREES F.
THE COLDEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD (17.6 DEGREES F) OCCURRED WAY BACK IN
1899 WHEN WILLIAM MCKINLEY WAS PRESIDENT AND THE SPANISH AMERICAN
WAR ENDED.

THERE WERE NO DAYS IN WHICH THE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE EXCEEDED 90
DEGREES. THERE WERE 6 DAYS IN WHICH THE DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURE DID
NOT EXCEED 32 DEGREES F AND NO DAYS WITH LOW TEMPERATURES AT OR
BELOW ZERO DEGREES F. THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE OF THE MONTH WAS 63
DEGREES WHICH OCCURRED ON THE 17TH. THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE OF THE
MONTH WAS 5 DEGREES BELOW ZERO ON THE MORNING OF THE 22ND. NO
TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE SET DURING THE MONTH.

PRECIPITATION:

PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY WAS 0.77 INCHES...WHICH IS
0.40 INCHES ABOVE THE NORMAL 0F 0.37 INCHES. THE WETTEST FEBRUARY ON
RECORD OCCURRED BACK IN 1934 WHEN 2.01 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION WAS
RECORDED. THE DRIEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD OCCURRED BACK IN 1970 WHEN
0.01 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION WAS RECORDED.

14.1 INCHES OF SNOW WAS RECORDED DURING THE MONTH...WHICH IS 8.2
INCHES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 5.9 INCHES. THIS MAKES FEBRUARY 2013 THE
3RD SNOWIEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD. THE SNOWIEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD
OCCURRED BACK IN 1912 WHEN 22.1 INCHES OF SNOW FELL. THE LEAST
SNOWIEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD OCCURRED BACK IN 2009 WHEN ONLY A TRACE
WAS RECORDED.

WEATHER:

THERE WERE NO THUNDERSTORMS OBSERVED AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT. THERE WERE TWO DAYS WITH DENSE FOG WITH A VISIBILITY AT OR
BELOW 1/4 MILE DURING THE MONTH. A PEAK WIND OF 44 MPH FROM A
NORTHERLY DIRECTION WAS RECORDED ON THE 15TH.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY 2013...

CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1872 TO 2013

WEATHER         OBSERVED          NORMAL  DEPART  LAST YEAR`S
                 VALUE   DATE(S)  VALUE   FROM    VALUE  DATE(S)
                                          NORMAL
................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
 HIGH              77   02/28/2006
                        02/04/1890
 LOW              -25   02/01/1951
                        02/08/1936
HIGHEST            63   02/17        70      -7       65  02/25
LOWEST              5   02/22       -14      19        3  02/11
AVG. MAXIMUM     43.3              46.2    -2.9     38.7
AVG. MINIMUM     16.9              18.9    -2.0     18.1
MEAN             30.1              32.5    -2.4     28.4
DAYS MAX >= 90      0               0.0     0.0        0
DAYS MAX <= 32      6               3.9     2.1        9
DAYS MIN <= 32     28              26.9     1.1       28
DAYS MIN <= 0       0               1.3    -1.3        0

PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
 MAXIMUM         2.01   1934
 MINIMUM         0.01   1970
TOTALS           0.77              0.37    0.40     0.90
DAILY AVG.       0.03              0.01    0.02     0.03
DAYS >= .01         6               5.3     0.7        7
DAYS >= .10         4               0.7     3.3        2
DAYS >= .50         0               0.0     0.0        1
DAYS >= 1.00        0               0.0     0.0        0
GREATEST
 24 HR. TOTAL    0.43   02/24 TO 02/24           02/02 TO 02/03

SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
 TOTAL           22.1   1912
TOTALS           14.1               5.7

DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL     972               908      64     1055
 SINCE 7/1       4272              4439    -167     4380
COOLING TOTAL       0                 0       0        0
 SINCE 1/1          0                 0       0        0

FREEZE DATES
RECORD
 EARLIEST     09/08/1962
 LATEST       06/08/2007
EARLIEST                        10/07
LATEST                          05/05
....................................................

WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED              10.3
RESULTANT WIND SPEED/DIRECTION   2/229
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    35/360    DATE  02/15
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION    44/010    DATE  02/15

SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT)   MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER           0.60
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR            5
NUMBER OF DAYS PC             16
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY          7

AVERAGE RH (PERCENT)     51

WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM              0     MIXED PRECIP               0
HEAVY RAIN                0     RAIN                       0
LIGHT RAIN                1     FREEZING RAIN              0
LT FREEZING RAIN          0     HAIL                       0
HEAVY SNOW                1     SNOW                       4
LIGHT SNOW               10     SLEET                      0
FOG                       9     FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE      2
HAZE                      8

-  INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R  INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T  INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.

$$