February 2022 Weather Recap
Record Temperatures for Northern California
A February cold snap swept across Northern California after the region experienced some record-breaking warm temperatures early in the month. High pressure dominated the West Coast through mid-month, bringing exceptionally warm and dry February conditions to Northern California. The record event reports from the local National Weather Service office show these upper 70s and 80s temperature records.
Exciting temperature record events occurred at the Salinas Airport! On February 10, it reached 87 °F (30.6 °C), and it broke the all-time high temperature record of 85 °F (29.4 °C) in February 2015, but then again was surpassed just two days later reaching an all-time February high for Salinas of 88 °F (31.1 °C) on February 12!
This warm weather pattern was abruptly replaced by a trough of low pressure and significantly cooler conditions on February 14, which eventually led to some record-breaking low temperatures across the region. Many San Francisco Bay Area locations dropped below freezing toward the end of the month, with February 24-25 coming in with the coldest conditions, as seen below in the official reports:
Fortunately, this shift in the weather pattern brought some precipitation to Northern California! While very little rainfall developed across lower elevations, some pretty good snowfall accumulation panned out over the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Some locations at the highest elevations, above 9,000 feet (2,743 m), reported 14 inches (35.6 cm) of snowfall in February!
Compare Record Temperatures to My Backyard Weather Station
My AcuRite Atlas® home weather station captured these February extreme temperatures; it’s always interesting to see how local official temperature records compare to our backyard weather conditions! The temperature chart below, as recorded in My AcuRite®, shows the warmest day also occurred on February 11, with a February high temperature of 82.7 °F (30.7 °C). Then on February 14, you can see a drastic temperature drop when it only reached a high of 57.3 °F (14.1 °C) that day.
The rainfall reported by my weather station was very minimal, but we received over 1 inch (2.54 cm) for the month of February. Mainly over the course of two days, February 8-9, and a bit more on February 23, my AcuRite Atlas recorded a total of 1.12 inches (2.84 cm) for the month. It’s been too long of a dry spell since our December historic rainfall, and after a dry January (in more ways than one!), we’ll take any precipitation we can get!
California Snowpack
With very minimal January and February precipitation, the California snowpack remains at below-normal levels. By looking at the charts above to compare the conditions from one month ago, you can see the percent of normal at this time of year continues to dwindle. As of March 2, we’re at 62% of normal, and if we don’t get some substantial precipitation, we may be headed into a very dangerous fire season with the vegetation already starting to dry out, increasing the fire danger and fire risk across Northern California. This is also reflected in the national drought monitor, which is already showing the return of Extreme Drought conditions to the northern tier of the state.
The Days Are Getting Longer!
Meanwhile, I continue to welcome the longer days and increased sunlight! My AcuRite Atlas measures UV index, light intensity, and hours of daylight. As you can see from the chart below, my backyard weather station is already reporting over 11 hours of daylight by the end of February! We’re up to 11 hours and 14 minutes of daylight, as reported on February 28! Curious how AcuRite welcomes the upcoming spring equinox on March 20, 2022? Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to see what we have planned!
Share and Discuss Your Local Weather
Any exciting weather that you experienced in your region? Report on the warm or cold temperatures, rainfall, or strong winds captured by your AcuRite weather station in February. Share and discuss your local weather data in the comments below!
