According to the National Weather Service, the Baltimore-Washington area has received no snowfall so far in February and the month is almost over! February is the month where College Park, on average, experiences the most snowfall. Are we going to see a winter with virtually no snow? Part of the reason for no snow is the warmer-than-usual weather.
Weather Underground keeps a history of the temperature for every day in College Park. The average high temperature for the month of February so far has been 57 F. The mean high temperatures throughout the month of February usually vary between 45 F and 52 F. We are seeing highs well above the usual high temperatures for our area in the month of February!
Even though we haven’t seen snow throughout most of this winter, we certainly have seen our fair share of rain. According to the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), the Baltimore-Washington area normally receives 2.9 inches of precipitation in the month of February. In College Park, the Weather Underground history indicates we are staying slightly ahead of our average. This February we have already received a total of about 3 inches of rain.
So it seems the limiting factor for our lack of snow is the temperature. The amount of precipitation received is more than normal, but temperatures were too high for snow accumulation. Our region is following the trend of higher than usual temperatures from fall 2019, as depicted in the image below. The December 2019 Regional Climate Outlook from the NCEI predicted the East Coast would continue to have above-normal temperatures. So maybe we won’t see snow this February, but we could still get lucky with some snow this winter. After all, we have until mid March before spring starts!
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/december-2019-regional-climate-impacts-and-outlooks
Featured image via https://pixabay.com/