February hotter than normal for region but still below record high
Last month may have seemed warmer than usual — and it was — but it was far from the hottest February on record.
According to the National Weather Service, the average monthly high temperature in February was 69.6 Fahrenheit, compared with the historical average of 67.5.
“While a difference of 2.1 degrees doesn’t sound like a lot, it’s a good number when you look at it over a whole month,” said Bob Fogarty, a meteorologist with the NWS’S Austin/san Antonio Forecast Center.
Still, it was only the 39thwarmest February since 1885 when weather records were first kept, according to Fogarty.
What may have made February seem warmer than it was, was the month that preceded it. In January, daily temperatures dipped below freezing eight times, compared with only once in February — and that was on Feb. 1.
By contrast, February temperatures reached 80 or above eight times, with the hottest day coming Feb. 22 when it got to 89.
For the record, the all-time high for the month was 100 on Feb. 21, 1996.
February also was relatively wet, with four days of measurable precipitation and nine days with a trace of rain. Still, the drought continues and the area is about a half-inch of rain below normal for the year so far.
The good news is the longterm precipitation outlook looks better than it has in a while.
According to Fogarty, the NWS recently changed the area’s rain chance forecast from below normal to an equal, meaning there’s as much a chance precipitation will be above normal as there is it will be below normal.
A round of showers and thunderstorms is expected to move in Thursday afternoon. The highest chance of showers — 40 percent — is forecast for overnight Thursday into Friday, said Orlando Bermúdez, a meteorologist with NWS. By commute time Friday, rain chances could fall to about 20 percent. The forecast calls for the showers to be followed by two separate cool fronts, with Saturday expected to reach the 80s in between them.