Volume 18 Number 2 FEBRUARY 2005

The month of February was warmer and wetter than normal for most of Texas in 2005. A low pressure system continued to trek across the state as the month started with lots of showers and cooler than normal temperatures for the majority of the state. Another system moved in from Mexico beginning on the 5^th, and showers and heavy clouds dominated most of Texas. Overcast skies remained for most of the state through the first week and a half, with College Station and Houston receiving the heaviest rainfall. A high pressure system moved in on the 9^th, and things dried out statewide. Average daily temperatures soared from normal levels to 10-20° above normal.

A cold front moved across the state beginning on the 15^th, and temperatures plummeted as a result. Average daily temperatures dropped from 10-15° above normal on the 15^th to just below normal levels on the 17^th. During the third week of the month, a series of troughs brought light showers to most first-order stations. A frontal system stalled over the state on the 22-24, and a low pressure system from the west collided with it to cause heavy rain for most of central and southeast Texas. Port Arthur, Galveston, College Station, Houston, and Waco all received at last 1.00” of rain over those days. Severe weather was also a result with 42 reports of hail over the three days including reports of 4.25” in Taylor County, 3.00” in Kendall County, and 2.75” in both Waller and Terrell Counties.

The month ended with partly-to-mostly cloudy skies across the state and light rain associated with the departing low pressure system. A weak frontal system began to pass the state on the 28^th, and a high pressure system looked to bring warmer, drier weather in March.

-Michael Hammer

FEBRUARY 2005

* 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)

Michael Hammer (Undergraduate Assistant)