FEBRUARY 2011 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR WEST-CENTRAL TEXAS

...PRECIPITATION WAS WELL-BELOW NORMAL ACROSS WEST CENTRAL
TEXAS IN FEBRUARY...

TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH WAS LESS THAN ONE TENTH OF AN
INCH ACROSS MUCH OF THE REGION SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 20 AND WEST OF
A LINE FROM CLYDE TO MASON. THESE AMOUNTS WERE LESS THAN 10
PERCENT OF NORMAL. ACROSS THE BIG COUNTRY NORTH OF INTERSTATE 20...
THE MONTHLY AMOUNTS GENERALLY VARIED UNDER ONE HALF INCH...EXCEPT
FOR PARTS OF THROCKMORTON AND SHACKELFORD COUNTIES WHICH RECEIVED
BETWEEN ONE HALF AND ONE INCH.

TEMPERATURES AVERAGED NEAR NORMAL AT SAN ANGELO AND BELOW NORMAL
AT ABILENE. FEBRUARY WAS MARKED BY A MAJOR FLUCTUATION IN
TEMPERATURES...FROM MUCH BELOW NORMAL EARLY IN THE MONTH TO WELL-
ABOVE NORMAL DURING MUCH OF THE MIDDLE AND LATE PARTS OF THE
MONTH.

AT SAN ANGELO...THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS
91 DEGREES...OCCURRING ON THE 27TH. THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE DURING
THE MONTH WAS 12 DEGREES...OCCURRING ON THE 2ND AND 10TH. THIS
MARKS A TEMPERATURE RANGE OF 79 DEGREES. AT ABILENE...THE HIGHEST
TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 89 DEGREES ON THE 27TH...WHILE THE
LOWEST TEMPERATURE WAS 7 DEGREES ON THE 2ND. THIS MARKS A
TEMPERATURE RANGE OF 82 DEGREES.   

AT ABILENE REGIONAL AIRPORT...THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR
FEBRUARY WAS 47.0 DEGREES. THIS WAS 1.6 DEGREES BELOW THE NORMAL
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 48.6 DEGREES. TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR
FEBRUARY WAS 0.68 INCHES. THIS WAS 0.45 INCHES BELOW THE MONTHLY
NORMAL OF 1.13 INCHES. ABILENE RECORDED A TOTAL OF 4.4 INCHES OF
SNOWFALL IN FEBRUARY.

AT SAN ANGELO REGIONAL AIRPORT...THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR
FEBRUARY WAS 50.3 DEGREES. THIS WAS 0.6 DEGREES ABOVE THE
NORMAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 49.7 DEGREES. TOTAL PRECIPITATION
FOR FEBRUARY WAS 0.31 INCHES. THIS WAS 0.87 INCHES BELOW THE
MONTHLY NORMAL OF 1.18 INCHES. SAN ANGELO RECORDED A TOTAL OF 0.6
INCHES OF SNOWFALL IN FEBRUARY.

...FEBRUARY 2011 WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS...

A MAJOR WEATHER EVENT...WHICH BEGAN ON THE EVENING OF JANUARY
31ST...CONTINUED THROUGH THE POST-MIDNIGHT HOURS OF FEBRUARY 1ST.
A LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS QUICKLY TRANSITIONED TO
WINTER PRECIPITATION ACROSS MOST OF THE REGION NORTH OF INTERSTATE
10...BEFORE MOVING OUT OF THE AREA. A PEAK WIND GUST OF 60 MPH WAS
RECORDED AT JUNCTION.

THE WINTER PRECIPITATION WAS IN THE FORM OF SNOW AND SLEET...
WAS ACCOMPANIED BY LIGHTNING AND THUNDER...AND WAS HEAVY AT TIMES.
SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 3 TO 6 INCHES WERE COMMON ACROSS THE BIG
COUNTRY...AND IN THE RANGE OF 1 TO 3 INCHES FARTHER SOUTH ACROSS
THE CONCHO VALLEY AND HEARLTLAND. ABILENE SET A NEW DAILY SNOWFALL 
RECORD ON THE 1ST WITH 3.4 INCHES. SIX TENTHS OF AN INCH WAS
MEASTURED AT SAN ANGELO. 

AFTER HIGHS IN THE 70S ACROSS MUCH OF THE REGION ON JANUARY 31ST...
TEMPERATURES PLUNGED INTO THE TEENS NORTH AND 20S SOUTH BY THE
MORNING OF FEBRUARY 1ST. BRISK NORTH WINDS REDUCED WIND CHILL
VALUES TO BETWEEN 10 ABOVE AND 10 BELOW ZERO ACROSS MUCH OF
WEST CENTRAL TEXAS.

TYPICALLY IN WEST CENTRAL TEXAS...SNOW USUALLY MELTS WITHIN A COUPLE
OF DAYS AFTER A SNOWFALL EVENT. IN THIS CASE HOWEVER...VERY COLD AIR
REMAINED ENTRENCHED OVER THE REGION. THIS WAS BROUGHT ABOUT AS A
VERY STRONG HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVED SOUTH OUT OF CANADA AND THEN
MOVED PROGRESSED SOUTH THROUGH THE PLAINS STATES AND INTO TEXAS...IN
THE DAYS FOLLOWING THE ARCTIC FRONTAL PASSAGE.

THIS RESULTED IN AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF VERY COLD TEMPERATURES. NEW
RECORD COLD DAILY HIGH TEMPERATURES WERE SET ON THE 2ND AT ABILENE
(HIGH OF 15 DEGREES) AND SAN ANGELO (HIGH OF 20 DEGREES). ON THE
3RD...A RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE WAS TIED AT SAN ANGELO (LOW OF 14
DEGREES). A NEW RECORD COLD DAILY HIGH TEMPERATURE WAS ALSO SET AT
SAN ANGELO ON THE 3RD (HIGH OF 23 DEGREES). NORTH WINDS KEPT WIND
CHILL VALUES IN THE SINGLE DIGITS ABOVE AND BELOW ZERO. THE COLDEST
LOW TEMPERATURES AREAWIDE OCCURRED ON THE EARLY MORNING OF THE
3RD...AND WERE IN THE RANGE OF 5 TO 15 DEGREES. HIGH TEMPERATURES
GENERALLY WERE ONLY IN THE UPPER TEENS TO LOWER 20S ACROSS THE
REGION FROM THE 1ST THROUGH THE 3RD. DURING THIS TIME A FEW WEAK
UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES BROUGHT PERIODS OF SNOW FLURRIES AND
SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS...BUT WITH NO ACCUMULATION.

WITH THE EXTENDED PERIOD OF TEMPERATURES WELL-BELOW FREEZING...
THE SNOW AND ICE REMAINED ON THE ROADS ACROSS THE BIG COUNTRY.
ROAD SURFACES WERE VERY HAZARDOUS TO IMPASSIBLE FOR TRAVEL. WITH
THESE ROAD CONDITIONS...SCHOOLS WERE CLOSED FOR UP TO 4 DAYS IN
ABILENE.

ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM MOVED FROM NORTHEASTERN MEXICO
ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS ON THE EARLY MORNING OF THE 4TH...BUT
MOST OF THE ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL OCCURRED TO THE EAST AND
NORTHEAST OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS VARIED
UNDER ONE ONCH ACROSS THE HEARTLAND AND EASTERN BIG COUNTRY.
ABILENE RECEIVED LESS THAN AN INCH OF SNOW.

TEMPERATURES CLIMBED ABOVE THE FREEZING MARK...AND INTO THE 30S TO
NEAR 40 FOR HIGHS ON THE 4TH SOUTH OF THE BIG COUNTRY...AS THE
AIRMASS BEGAN TO MODERATE ACROSS THE AREA. ACROSS THE BIG COUNTRY... 

ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT WINTER WEATHER EVENT OCCURRED ON THE 8TH AND
9TH. TEMPERATURES CLIMBED INTO THE 60S FOR HIGHS ON THE 8TH...
BEFORE AN ARCTIC COLD FRONT SWEPT SOUTH ACROSS THE REGION. THIS
FRONT MOVED ACROSS THE BIG COUNTRY AND CONCHO VALLEY BETWEEN 6 PM
AND MIDNIGHT ON THE 8TH...AND THEN PROGRESSED SOUTH OF THE
INTERSTATE 10 CORRIDOR DURING THE POST-MIDNIGHT HOURS OF THE 9TH.
FOLLOWING PASSAGE OF THIS FRONT...BRISK NORTH WINDS WERE ACCOMPANIED
BY RAPIDLY FALLING TEMPERATURES. PEAK WIND GUSTS REACHED 41 MPH AT
ABILENE AND 40 MPH AT JUNCTION. BY THE MORNING OF THE 9TH...
TEMPERATURES PLUNGED INTO THE TEENS...AND WIND CHILL VALUES
DROPPED INTO THE RANGE OF 10 DEGREES ABOVE TO 10 DEGREES BELOW ZERO.
AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE ENTERED THE REGION AND INTERACTED WITH
THE COLD AIR TO BRING MIXED PRECIPITATION TO THE REGION. UP TO ONE
INCH OF SNOW OCCURRED ACROSS MUCH OF BIG COUNTRY...WITH LESS THAN
AN INCH FARTHER SOUTH INTO THE CONCHO VALLEY. SOME LIGHT SLEET AND
FREEZING RAIN OCCURRED ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHEASTERN SECTIONS OF
WEST CENTRAL TEXAS.

CLEARING SKIES IN THE AFTERNOON ALLOWED TEMPERATURES TO RECOVER
INTO THE UPPER 20S TO LOWER 30S FOR HIGHS...WITH MID 30S IN PARTS
OF CROCKETT COUNTY. CLEAR SKIES AND DECREASING WINDS SET THE STAGE
FOR VERY COLD LOW TEMPERATURES ON THE EARLY MORNING OF THE 10TH.
LOWS RANGED FROM 5 TO 15 DEGREES ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS...AND
RECORD LOW TEMPERATURES WERE TIED AT ABILENE AND SAN ANGELO. 

A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN THE PATTERN OCCURRED BY THE MIDDLE OF THE
MONTH...AND THIS FACILITATED A SUBSTANTIAL WARMUP IN TEMPERATURES.
HIGHS WERE IN THE 80 TO 85 DEGREE RANGE ACROSS THE REGION ON THE
15TH. DRY CONDITIONS WITH WELL-ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES PREVAILED
DURING THE MIDDLE AND LATE PARTS OF THE MONTH...WITH A FEW DRY COLD
FRONTAL PASSAGES. A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE WAS TIED AT SAN ANGELO
ON THE 23RD.

A COUPLE OF FIRE WEATHER EVENTS OCCURRED LATE IN THE MONTH...ON THE
24TH AND 27TH. ON BOTH OF THESE DATES...POTENT UPPER LEVEL
DISTURBANCES MOVED FROM THE SOUTHWESTERN STATES NORTHEAST INTO THE
CENTRAL PLAINS. THIS BROUGHT A COMBINATION OF STRONG GUST WINDS...
ACCOMPANIED BY WELL-ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND AN INTRUSION OF
VERY DRY AIR INTO WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. ON THESE DATES...RELATIVE
HUMIDITY FELL WELL BELOW 20 PERCENT. 

STRONG WEST WINDS OCCURRED ON THE 24TH...AND PEAK WIND GUSTS REACHED
48 MPH AT SAN ANGELO AND 41 MPH AT ABILENE. SEVERAL GRASS AND
BRUSH FIRES OCCURRED ON THE 24TH. A LARGE WILFFIRE IN SOUTHERN MASON
COUNTY BURNED AN ESTIMATED 4500 ACRES. 

ON THE 27TH...PEAK WIND GUSTS REACHED 49 MPH AT SAN ANGELO...47 MPH
AT ABILENE...AND 44 MPH AT JUNCTION. SEVERAL GRASS AND BRUSH FIRES
ALSO OCCURRED ON THE 27TH. A LARGE WILD WILDFIRE IN NORTHERN CROCKETT
COUNTY BURNED AN AREA ESTIMATED TO BE 15 MILES LONG AND 6 MILES WIDE.
A WILDFIRE NEAR LAKE STAMFORD DESTROYED 2 VACANT STRUCTURES. 

HIGH TEMPERATURES ON THE 27TH WERE IN THE UPPER 80S TO LOWER 90S
ACROSS MOST OF THE REGION. NEW RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES WERE SET AT
ABILENE AND SAN ANGELO.

$$