Volume 16 Number 2                                                                                           FEBRUARY 2003

 

Rather mild weather characterized the beginning of the month of February.  Temperatures ranged from the lower 70’s in the Panhandle to the lower 80’s in West Texas. This unseasonably warm weather soon came to an end on the 3rd when a cold front moved across the state.  This frontal system was rather dry, and moderated temperatures to typical February normals.  By the 7th,   an area of extremely cold arctic air had plummeted southward.  Temperatures ranged from the lower 30’s in the Amarillo area, to the upper 40’s in Brownsville.  This storm system brought a fair amount of precipitation to the state. The totals are as listed:  Beaumont/Port Arthur-1.09”, College Station-0.79”, Houston-0.85”, Longview-0.80”, Lufkin-0.66”, and Tyler-0.60”. 

Temperatures stayed fairly cold for 2 days before the next system moved into the state on the 9th.  This system moderated temperatures into the 50’s and 60’s across the state, and brought a few showers and thunderstorms with it as well.  Temperatures stayed quite mild until the 14th when the next low pressure and cold frontal system moved across Texas.  By the 15th the temperature contrast across the state was quite evident.  In Amarillo temperatures were in the 30’s, and in the lower 80’s in Brownsville.  Cold air trekked southward across the state and by the 16th most of the state had high temperatures in the 40’s with high pressure domination.  With high pressure shifting eastward, temperatures warmed to near normal values for the month of February. 

On the 20th an arctic frontal system brought rain showers and dropped temperatures to the 40’s and 50’s.  Ample amounts of precipitation were reported in College Station with 4.20” (a new 24-hr precipitation record), Austin-2.62”, Lufkin-2.38”, and Temple at 1.00”. With the retreat of high pressure temperatures warmed to 60’s and 70’s by the 22nd.  The passage of a polar front on the 24th caused an amazing temperature contrast across the state from the teens in the Panhandle to the 70’s in the Lower Valley region of Texas.  Numerous areas in Texas experienced winter precipitation on the 24th, which included the regions of the High Plains, Low Rolling Plains, and the North Central Plains (Dallas area).  On February 25th, and 26th, the majority of the state reported highs in the 30’s and 40’s. Temperature moderation occurred by the 27th, and the month of February came to a close with relatively normal readings.      

 

Kelsey Curtiss (Undergraduate Assistant)

 

 

 

FEBRUARY 2003


* Based on 1971-2000 normals

* Complete temperature data were unavailable.  Temperatures are rounded to the nearest whole degree.

* HDD - Heating degree-day: Refer to the Monthly Average chart for a definition                                                           T = Trace (<0.005")

* CDD - Cooling degree-day: Refer to the Monthly Average chart for a definition                                           M:  Information not available.

 

 


 

 

 

CLIMATIC AVERAGES FOR MARCH


Records are at the current site, other records may have occurred at previous sites.

*CDD - Cooling degree-day:  The difference between the mean individual daily temperature and 65°F, with one

CDD resulting for each degree above the standard 65°F during one day.

*HDD - Heating degree-day:  The difference between the mean individual daily temperature and 65°F, with one

HDD resulting for each degree below the standard 65°F during one day.

 

 

 

 

 

Agricultural Weather Highlights

 

http://agnews.tamu.edu/dailynews/index.html

 

 

 

 

 

Past Weather Events in March

 

March 23, 1909:  Tornado.  Slidell, Wise County; 11 killed, 10 injured; damage $30,000.

 

March 30, 1933:  Tornado.  Angelina, Nacogdoches and San Augustine Counties; 10 killed, 56 injured; damage $200,000.

 

March 13, 1953:  Tornado.  Jud and O'Brien, Haskell County; and Knox City, Knox County; 17 killed, 25 injured; damage $600,000.

 

March-May, 1998:  According to the Climate Prediction Center, this three-month period ranks as the seventh driest for a region including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.  May 1998 has been ranked as both the warmest and the driest May that this region has ever seen.

 

March 28, 2000:  A supercell over Fort Worth produced an F3 tornado which injured 80 people and caused significant damage.  Flooding claimed the lives of two people.

 

 

 

Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon (State Climatologist)

Andrew Odins (Graduate Assistant)

Kelsey Curtiss (Undergraduate Assistant)