February 2004 PA Weather Summary

            February began rather tranquilly with partly cloudy skies, cool temperatures, and highs generally sticking about in the low 30s.  As the 3rd began, a low pressure system brought a fair sized snow event to the commonwealth with accumulations ranging anywhere from a mere dusting in Southeastern and Northwestern portions of the state to a deluge in North Central regions, the Poconos seeing up to 14 inches of our little white friend, snow.  Conditions remained calm after this event, with temperatures in the teens and  low 20s for the most part.  Yet another system would make an appearance on the 6th, dropping up to 4 inches of snow before changing over to ice, and then leaving another inch or so of the slippery granules.  Some regions, namely the Southern and Western ones,  would see only a bit of snow followed by rain, making for rather unpleasant conditions.  After this second system finally decided to exit the region on the 7th, it was  replaced  by a nice high pressure system that granted a reprieve from the cloudy wintry conditions of the past week.  Warmer conditions as well as an appearance by the sun on the 8th made the changeover on the 14th that much more painful as cold air from Canada brought wind and another surge of well below freezing temperatures to all of the state. This trend continued through mid month until the 18th when warm air from the Gulf of Mexico began to mix into the state.  This provided for warmer conditions and eventually for a rather small system to skirt its way across the southern parts of the state, dropping a few hundredths of an inch here and there.  Temperatures remained in the 30s until the 21st, when a fairly strong snow event decided to pound into the state, dropping up to four inches in North Central, PA.   The snow changed over to frozen precipitation as the 22nd ended with temperatures moderating to the mid to upper 30s in much of the state.  Another small rain event dropping another few hundredths of an inch in Western regions occurred on the 24th and 25th.  February ended out with a warming event beginning on the 27th that would last through the month and well into March, perhaps signifying an end to cold frost filled evenings.

Initial Extremes

- Brandon Katz