Easterwood Field						College Station, Texas
Monthly Summary for February 2003
	TEMPERATURE			PRECIP.		TEMPERATURE
Day	Maximum	Minimum	*Depart.	Total		MEANS		ACTUAL	DEPART.
1	70	37	3			Maximum		59.1	-6.4
2	75	53	12			Minimum		42.5	-0.9
3	74	47	8	T		Monthly		50.8	-3.7
4	58	34	-6			EXTREMES			DATE
5	52	46	-3	T		Highest		76	23th
6	47	41	-9	0.79		Lowest		29	17th,25th
7	42	36	-14
8	43	35	-14	0.01		DEGREE DAYS		TOTAL	DEPART.
9	63	39	-2	0.05		Heating		403	96
10	60	41	-2			Cooling		4	-10
11	69	41	1
12	73	53	9	T		PRECIPITATION		AMOUNT	DEPART.
13	68	61	10	0.05		Total Monthly		6.53	4.15
14	73	65	15	0.03		Total for 2003		7.61	1.91
15	69	46	2	T		Precipitation Days		11	3
16	46	31	-17			EXTREMES		AMOUNT	DATE
17	61	29	-10			24-hour Maximum		4.06	20th
18	69	43	1
19	71	52	6	0.24		Maximum Wind Gust		33 mph	20th
20	58	50	-2	4.06
21	58	50	-2	1.10		NUMBER OF DAYS		AMOUNT	DEPART.
22	66	50	2	0.11		TEMPERATURE
23	76	41	1			Maximum 90 or higher		0	0
24	43	32	-20	0.06		Maximum 32 or lower		0	0
25	33	29	-26	0.03		Minimum 32 or lower		4	-2
26	37	31	-23	T
27	48	36	-15	T		RECORD BOOK FOR FEBRUARY**
28	53	41	-11			Highest Temperature		99°F	1996
						Lowest Temperature		14°F	1985
						Lowest Max Temp		24°F	1985
						Highest Min Temp		75°F	1991
						Wettest Month		9.82"	1992
	Temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit					Driest Month		0.16"	1999
	Precipitation in inches					Wettest 24 hours		3.30"	1955
	"T" denotes less than or equal to 0.005"					** Based on records (1952-present)
	BOLDFACE indicates extreme values for the month					* Departure of the daily mean temperature,
	ITALICS indicate a record was set or tied					as calculated from the average of the
						maximum and minimum temperatures, from
						the 1971-2000 normals.
New Records Set*
DAY	PARAMETER				VALUE		OLD RECORD		YEAR
25th	Lowest Maximum Temperature				33°F		38°F		1960
26th	Lowest Maximum Temperature				37°F		42°F		1982
Near Records*
DAY	PARAMETER				VALUE		RECORD		YEAR
2nd	4th Highest Minimum Temperature				53°F		65°F		1986
7th	4th Lowest Maximum Temperature				42°F		38°F		1989
8th	2nd Lowest Maximum Temperature				43°F		37°F		1978
13th	3rd Highest Minimum Temperature				61°F		68°F		1989
14th	4th Highest Minimum Temperature				65°F		65°F		1990
16th	4th Lowest Maximum Temperature				46°F		45°F		1980
17th	4th Lowest Minimum Temperature				29°F		25°F		1980
24th	3rd Lowest Maximum Temperature				43°F		35°F		1965
25th	4th Lowest Minimum Temperature				29°F		22°F		1974
26th	4th Lowest Minimum Temperature				31°F		17°F		2002
27th	2nd Lowest Maximum Temperature				48°F		45°F		1962
*NOTE:  All records are based on observations taken at Easterwood Field (1952-present)
Monthly Review
The month of February began quite mild for the Brazos Valley area.  A cold front moved through
the area on the 4th , causing temperatures to drop considerably from the previous day.  Cold air
advected into the area on the 6th through the 8th, dropping temperatures another 15 degrees.
High temperatures remained in the lower to mid 40's for a few days before finally moderating
to the lower 60's on the 9th. This system brought precipitation to the area with a reported total
of 0.86" from the 5th-9th at Easterwood Airport. Quite mild temperatures prevailed over the area
until the 16th when the next system made its way across Texas.  High temperatures dropped
by twenty to twenty five degrees, and brought dry air in behind it.  This was a very short lived
system however, and temperatures were back in the lower 60's the following day. A stationary
front was draped across the state on the 20th, which triggered numerous showers and
thunderstorms in conjunction with a low pressure system.  The south central, and eastern regions
of Texas received ample precipitation from this system. A 24-hour precipitation record was
reported in College Station when 4.06 inches fell on the 20th .  The previous 24-hour precipitation
record was3.81 inches from 1927. The low pressure system finally moved out on the 22nd,
allowing for high pressure to dominate and temperatures to moderate to the upper 60's and lower
70's.  On the 23rd big changes began in the state of Texas with the movement of a very intense
polar air mass into the area.  Cold air advection accompanied this strong front with high
temperatures in the teens in the panhandle, to the 50's in extreme southern Texas.  The College
Station area experienced highs in the upper 30's on the 24th, and struggled to get out of the 20's on
the 25th. Frozen precipitation blanketed a majority of the state on the 24th, and College Station
received frozen rain, and mist early in the morning on the 25th. For the month, the Bryan/College
area had 11 near records and two new records were set. A maximum temperature of 33 degrees was
reported on the 25th, which was a new record for the month of February on that day.  Finally the
cold weather retreated on the 27th, with highs in the 50's and lingering showers from a low
pressure system situated near the area.
March Normals for College Station
			Temperature
Beginning of the month			67 / 45			Monthly precipitation:		2.58"
Middle of the month			71 / 49			Precipitation days:		7
End of the month			75 / 54			90° days		0
State Climatologist:  John Nielsen-Gammon
Prepared by: Andrew Odins (Graduate Assistant)
Kelsey Curtiss (Undergraduate Assistant)
Email:  osc@ariel.met.tamu.edu
Web address:  http://www.met.tamu.edu/osc/
OFFICE OF THE TEXAS STATE CLIMATOLOGIST
DEPARTMENT OF ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE STATION, TX 77843-3150