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PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX
1015 PM CST SAT MAR 2 2002

...WEST CENTRAL TEXAS EXPERIENCED COOLER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES 
IN FEBRUARY...

TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR FEBRUARY WAS NEAR NORMAL...BUT MOST OF THE 
PRECIPITATION FELL ON JUST A FEW DAYS DURING THE MONTH.  

AT ABILENE REGIONAL AIRPORT...THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR FEBRUARY 
WAS 45.7 DEGREES. THIS WAS 2.9 DEGREES BELOW THE NORMAL AVERAGE  
TEMPERATURE OF 48.6 DEGREES. TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR FEBRUARY WAS
1.16 INCHES. THIS WAS 0.03 INCHES ABOVE THE MONTHLY NORMAL OF 1.13
INCHES. ABILENE RECEIVED A TRACE OF SNOWFALL IN FEBRUARY. 

AT SAN ANGELO REGIONAL AIRPORT...THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR 
FEBRUARY WAS 46.7 DEGREES. THIS WAS 3.0 DEGREES BELOW THE NORMAL
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 49.7 DEGREES. TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR 
FEBRUARY WAS 1.10 INCHES. THIS WAS 0.08 INCHES BELOW THE 
MONTHLY NORMAL OF 1.18 INCHES. NO SNOWFALL WAS RECORDED IN SAN
ANGELO IN FEBRUARY.


...FEBRUARY 2002 WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS...

A STRONG UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE BROUGHT RAIN AND SOME SNOW TO WEST 
CENTRAL TEXAS ON THE 4TH AND 5TH. WIDESPREAD RAIN FELL OVER THE 
REGION. RAINFALL AMOUNTS GENERALLY RANGED FROM THREE QUARTERS OF AN 
INCH TO 1.5 INCHES. THIS WAS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT RAIN TO FALL OVER 
WEST CENTRAL TEXAS SINCE MID-NOVEMBER OF LAST YEAR. AS COLDER AIR 
FILTERED INTO THE REGION...THE RAIN CHANGED TO WET SNOW SNOW BEFORE
ENDING OVER THE BIG COUNTRY. SNOW ACCUMULATED UP TO ONE INCH...
MAINLY NORTH OF INTERSTATE 20.

AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE AND COLD FRONT BROUGHT NUMEROUS SHOWERS 
AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS EAST OF A LINE FROM HASKELL TO SAN ANGELO 
TO SONORA...DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF THE 19TH. SCATTERED 
LOCATIONS OVER THE HEARTLAND AND NORTHWEST HILL COUNTRY RECEIVED 
ONE TO TWO INCHES OF RAIN. OTHERWISE THE RAINFALL AMOUNTS VARIED 
UNDER ONE INCH. 

HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEMS WITH QUITE DRY AIR AFFECTED THE REGION 
DURING THE SECOND HALF OF FEBRUARY. AFTERNOON RELATIVE HUMIDITIES 
DROPPED BELOW 20 PERCENT ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS.  

A DRAMATIC TEMPERATURE CHANGE OCCURRED LATE IN THE MONTH WHEN AN 
ARCTIC COLD FRONT SWEPT SOUTH ACROSS THE REGION. HIGH TEMPERATURES 
REACHED THE LOWER 80S ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS ON THE 24TH. AFTER 
THE ARCTIC FRONTAL PASSAGE ON THE EVENING OF THE 25TH...TEMPERATURES
PLUMMETED INTO THE 20S BY EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. BRISK NORTH WINDS 
OF 15 TO 25 MPH PRODUCED VERY COLD WIND CHILLS IN THE SINGLE DIGITS 
OVER MUCH OF THE AREA...WITH TEENS OVER SOUTHERN SECTIONS. HIGH 
PRESSURE SETTLED ACROSS TEXAS THE FOLLOWING NIGHT AND BROUGHT THE 
COLDEST TEMPERATURES SO FAR FOR THE SEASON. EARLY MORNING LOW 
TEMPERATURES ON THE 27TH WERE GENERALLY IN THE TEENS...WITH 9 
DEGREES RECORDED AT JUNCTION. ABILENE SET A NEW RECORD LOW FOR THE 
DATE WITH 16 DEGREES.