February 2013 will be remembered as cloudy, cold and snowy. Grand Rapids had only 3 days that were completely precipitation free. Grand Rapids saw 3.05 inches of precipitation which is the twelfth wettest February on record. A new precipitation record was set on the seventh with 0.53” which includes 5.2 inches of snowfall. Click here to read more about this storm. One week later, part of West Michigan saw more than a foot of snow. In the final days of the month wet and heavy snow blanketed the region.
After several months of below normal snowfall, February began to close the gap. We started the month more than two feet below average and finished the month only 7.6 inches below average. Grand Rapids observed a whopping 33.1 inches, which is 18.3 inches above the average of 14.8 inches. This makes February 2013 the fifth snowiest February on record. Four of the top five snowiest happened in just the last 7 years. Here is list of the snowiest:
2008 41.6”
2011 39.2”
1900 35.5”
2007 33.6”
2013 33.1”
With all that moisture it was certainly a cloudy month. Grand Rapids observed only 17.9% of possible sunshine. In a typical February we see 34% so that makes last month 16.1% below average. In fact February 2013 is the tenth cloudiest o record. Here is the list of the cloudiest.
1959 16.6%
1965 16.7%
1950 16.8%
1926, 1947, 1972 16.9%
1912 17.0%
1967 17.5%
1908 17.6%
2013 17.9%
With all the clouds and snow temperatures were cooler than average. The average temperature for the month, which includes both the highs and lows, was 24.79° which is 2.01° below average. The average high was 32.29° which is 1.40° below average. The low temperatures for the month were also cooler than normal. The average low temperature was 17.29° which is 2.61° below average.
See the slideshow on the top for more on the February weather.
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