Weather Extremes

For the week of Feb. 17-23, there were 109 weather records broken or tied across the United States, most of them for precipitation and snowfall. There were also 24 high temperature records and 11 low temperature extremes.

Alaska enjoyed record high temperatures into the upper 30s and lower 40s from Feb. 18-21. Temperatures soared to near 90 degrees in Florida as Miami and Vero Beach each reported a record 89 degrees on Saturday.

The north-central United States, though, went into the deep freeze. On Wednesday, Grand Forks, N.D., plunged to a record minus 33 degrees. At Devils Lake, N.D., a record low of minus 34 degrees was observed Wednesday. Watertown, S.D., dropped to 28 below zero the same day.

Record low maximum temperatures were also reported Wednesday in North Dakota. Grand Forks recorded a high of minus 10 degrees. It was minus 9 at Fargo.

Precipitation records last week were most common in the central U.S. On Feb. 17, Peoria, Ill., recorded 1.44 inches of moisture. Most precipitation extremes in the Midwest ranged from about one-half to 1inches of rain and melted snow. On Wednesday, Boston observed a record 2.66 inches of rain. An impressive precipitation record of 4.99 inches drenched Tallahassee, Fla., on Thursday.

Record snows were most common in Wisconsin, Michigan and parts of the Northeast. On the 17th, Appleton, Wis., observed 8.2 inches of snow. On the same day, Green Bay, Wis., reported a record 6.6 inches of snow. New York airports had record snows on Friday. At John F. Kennedy Airport, a record 6.9 inches of snow fell. At Laguardia, 6.4 inches of snow was reported. Some towns in Michigan and the Northeast are now reporting the snowiest season ever recorded. Across the Inland Northwest, several towns in North Idaho, including the northwestern part of Coeur d’Alene, are also reporting the snowiest season in history.