Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Frequent showers fell in February

Meteorologist Brad Barton

February continued January’s trend of being wetter than normal.  Otherwise, the month was unremarkable and relatively calm.  And unlike January, February was devoid of severe weather.

Our warmest temperature of the month, 76, was recorded on February 29th and our coldest, 21, was recorded on the 27th.  Our average high was 59 and our average low was 36, giving us a day-night average temperature of 48.

Rainfall was frequent and that’s one reason it appears we have an early green-up.  We had several multi-day rain events.  We picked up .71″ over the 3rd, 4th and 5th of the month.  We had nearly two inches of rain (1.98″) between the 9th and 12th.  Another .36″ fell over the 19th and 20th.  Total rainfall for the month was 3.05 inches which was .31″ above normal.  Added to January’s 3.38″ we’ve received nearly 6.5 inches of rain for the first two months of the year.  The month turned out fairly close to normal and pretty much as-forecast.

Looking ahead, the Climate Prediction Center notes a significant oscillation of weather patterns in the tropical Pacific has injected a good deal of uncertainty to the 30-day outlook during March.  And despite the noted uncertainty, the forecast indicates a 40% chance of cooler-than-normal weather in North Texas.

I’m not really sure what those two conflicting factors portend, but March is often the most difficult month to forecast accurately in Denton County.  In DFW weather records, we’ve reached a high of 100 and a low of 25, our widest temperature range.  We have also seen significant snow even in late March, so hang on for the ride.

March/April is also a good time to prepare your home and family for Spring Severe Weather Season.  If you missed the Skywarn Weather Spotting seminar at Texas Woman’s University in Denton on Feb. 22, I recommend two other upcoming events.

WBAP and WFAA are co-sponsoring “WeatherCon” again this year on Saturday, April 4th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Love Field.  You’ll get plenty of opportunities to meet with and talk to storm spotters, NWS meteorologists, the weather staff at WFAA and hear our keynote speaker, Dr. Bill Bunting, Director of the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. Admission to both events is free, including free admission to the museum during the event.

Congressman Michael Burgess is hosting his 2020 Emergency Preparedness Summit & Fair on Saturday, April 25th from 8 a.m. until noon at Argyle West Elementary School in Harvest, 1741 Old Justin Road.  Weather-permitting, I plan to be there.

Brad Barton
Brad Bartonhttps://www.wbap.com/weather-updates/
Brad Barton is Chief Meteorologist of WBAP 820 and 570 KLIF. His video weather podcast is posted to WBAP.com and Facebook around noon every Thursday. You can follow Brad on Twitter @BradBartonDFW

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