Last week I looked at the great cold spell of February 1899. This week I will look at the warmest days of February in what I will call the 60° club. The temperature at Grand Rapids has gotten to 60 or better in 14 February’s. The record warmest day in February is 69 on February 11th, 1999. There were 3 years in a row with highs in the 60’s in February at Grand Rapids in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Here is a breakdown of the years with a spring like day in late winter.
1999: January that year seen 46.8” of snow fall and at one point there was 20” on the ground. Of course all that snow was gone by the end of the month. In February 1999 the first 12 days all had highs above average but on 10 it reached 52 and the next day it shot all the way up to 69 for the warmest day in any February.
1976: January and the start of February 1976 were very cold and there was 16” of snow on the ground on the 2nd and over and over 11” on the ground in the 1st 9 days. It warmed up well into the 40’s on the 11 and on the 15th it reached 59 and by that time the snow was mostly gone. The high reached 61 on the 25th and on the 27 it reached 67 tying 1930 for the 2nd warmest readings for February at Grand Rapids. In total there were 2 days of 60 or better and a total of 8 days of 50 or better in February 1967.
1930: After a cold and snowy January, February 1930 started out with over 10” of snow on the ground. With highs above 32 on most days the snow was mostly gone by the 18th The 19th was the start of 7 spring like days with a high of 59 on the 19th the high reached 61 on the 20th and then 66 on the 21st before reaching 67 on the 21st there would be 3 more days with highs in the mid to upper 50’s
2017: The 3rd warmest day of 66 happened in 2017 in the middle of 3 years in a row when it got into the 60’s in February. The high reached 40 on the 10th and there was just one more day that it did not get above 32 that February. Starting on the 17th highs of 54,59,62, 60, 57, 66 and 58 occurred.
1944: February 1944 was colder than average but on the 26th the temperature did jump up to 64. March 1944 was cold and snowy.
1932: February 1932 was a mild month and on the 11th the temperature shot up to 64. Like 1944 March 1932 was very cold and very snowy. I guess you do not want to see a high of 64 in February.
2018: With 20.7” of snow February 2018 was above average in snow fall but on the 20th the temperature shot up to 63 and it again reached into the 60’s on February 27 and 28 with highs of 61 and 60.
2000: February 2000 was on the years with a very spring like period with highs from the 22nd to the 29th well above average and reaching 63 on the 23rd and again on the 26th
1984: February 1984 seen several mild spring like days with highs reaching 60 on the 22nd and then 63 on the 23rd For the month Grand Rapids only had 1.6” of snow fall. March 1984 was colder and snowier than that February.
2016: February 2016 was the 1st of 3 years in a row of highs that reached 60 or better. The high reached 61 in a 2 day warm period on the 19th and 20th with highs of 61 on the 19th and then 52 on the 20th it also reached 57 on the 28th
2009: In 2009 the high of 61 was reached in a brief 2 day warm up with highs of 61 on the 10th and 56 on the 11th
1954: February 1954 turned very mild on the 14th when the high reached 52 the next day the high reached 61. In the last half of that February every day was above 32. March of 1954 was cold and snowy.
1925: This was the first year when a high officially reached at least 60 in Grand Rapids. A high of 60 was reached on the 8th as part of a 4 day period of highs well above average with highs of 50,51, 60 and 55.
1983: This will be the last year of the list of years of 60 or better when on February 20th the temperature reached 60. That concludes the years that had highs reach 60 or better in February at Grand Rapids.
Slim
Fancy website background mv 😀
going for that art deco look 🙂
Art Deco is the best architectural design!
>>>>Breaking>>>>possible snowstorm the end of next week! Stay tuned!
60 degrees in February is not right and thank God that will not happen this year. In fact we are headed for more below normal temps next week and beyond! We have a ton of winter weather coming! I love it!
Wow what a cold wintry day! Incredible! Keep it coming!
Definitely an interesting storm last night. The radar is still down so it was hard to track the storm in West Michigan. But across the lake, 70mph winds and lightning with snow!
We had a Blizzard last night the wind and snow fallen was crazy couldn’t not see very well driving it felt like mid January not mid February this has been one Winter to remember…Dont put the shovels away jiust yet we have 3 more systems with you guess it more snow on the way woo woo..Get outside and enjoy this Winter non-stop land …INDY
Here at my house I recorded a wind blown 2.7″ of snow last night. And there is now 3.5″ of snow on the ground. At this time it is clear and 10
Slim
Cold, snowy winter weather should last well into March! Get prepared for it and remember – Rock n Roll will never die! Who wouldn’t love snow this time of year?
What a winter! It just keeps snowing almost every day! Wow!