February temps in Iowa far more frigid than average

This month will likely go down as Iowa's ninth coldest February in 143 years, according to State Climatologist Harry Hillaker.

It also will likely rank among Iowa's top 10 snowiest Februaries in the 128 years those records have been kept, Hillaker said.

Through the 26th, February ranked as only the 15th coldest, but that was before record lows Friday morning could be factored into the monthly statistics.

The state's lowest temperature of the winter — 30 degrees below 0 — was recorded Friday morning in the northern Buchanan County town of Stanley, Hillaker said.

The statewide average temperature through the first 26 days of February was 15.6 degrees — 8.4 degrees cooler than February's normal 24-degree average.

In the annals of snowiest Februaries, this month with a statewide average of 12.9 inches — well above the 6.8-inch normal — could rank as high as ninth or as low as 11th, depending upon how much falls before February ends at midnight Saturday, Hillaker said.

Most of February's snow fell in two events — one at the month's beginning, the other near its end.

For the winter season to date, Iowa has recorded a statewide average of 25.5 inches of snow — barely below the 30-year average of 25.9 inches through the end of February.

With the high likelihood of additional snow in the next few days, and especially given the powerful winter storm targeting the Midwest early next week, it appears that this Iowa winter will be the eighth in the past nine years with above-normal snowfall.

For the three-month meteorological winter — December through February — Iowa has recorded an average temperature of 21.7 degrees — barely cooler than the 22.1 degree normal — which ranks as the 67th coolest such period in 143 years.

Factor in November — Iowa's fourth coldest with a statewide average temperature of 29.1 degrees, 7.5 degrees cooler than normal — and the winter season feels both colder and longer than normal.

The average statewide temperature for the past four months, 23.6 degrees, is 2.1 degrees cooler than normal, making it the 40th coldest such stretch in 143 years.

Last February, with a statewide average temperature of 12.5 degrees, ranked as the state's seventh-coldest February.

The state's all-time coldest February occurred in 1936, with a statewide average temperature of 5.6 degrees.

That bitter February was the fourth-coldest of any Iowa month, exceeded only by three Januaries, the worst of which, in 1912, featured a statewide average temperature of 4 degrees.