• The December 2006-February 2007 winter season was marked by periods of unusually warm and cold conditions in the U.S., but the overall seasonal temperature was near average.
  
  
• The winter season got off to a late start in much of the country. December was the 11th warmest such month on record (based on revised data), and spring-like temperatures covered much of the eastern half of the nation during the first half of January.
  
  
• The warmer-than-average seasonal temperatures in the more heavily populated regions of the Midwest and East helped reduce residential energy needs for the nation as a whole for the winter season. Using NOAA's Residential Energy Demand Temperature Index (REDTI), it was determined that the nation's residential energy demand was approximately 3 percent lower than what would have occurred under average climate conditions for the season.
  
  
• Seasonal energy demand would have been lower if not for February's colder temperatures. For the month, temperature-related residential energy demand was approximately 6 percent higher than what would have occurred under average climate conditions for February.
  
  
• February was among the third coldest in the 113-year record for the contiguous U.S. Thirty-six states in the eastern two-thirds of the nation were cooler than average, while Texas and the eleven states of the West were near average to warmer than average.
  
  
• Winter season precipitation was above average in the central U.S. from the Upper Midwest to New Mexico, Texas and Louisiana. Drier-than-average conditions stretched from the Deep South to Kentucky, the Mid-Atlantic, and along the Northeast Seaboard states. Much of the West was also drier than average.
  
  
• Through early March, water-year precipitation in Los Angeles was the lowest on record, less than 25% of normal.
  
  
• Several snow storms hit the Plains, Midwest, and Northeast in February. A complex, wide-reaching winter storm moved from the Mid-Mississippi Valley into the Mid-Atlantic and New England February 14 and 15. This storm ranked as a Category 3 event on the Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale (NESIS). The heaviest snow fell in interior regions of the Northeast where amounts over 20 inches were widespread.
  
  
• This event was preceded by a 10-day lake effect storm that dumped more than 100 inches of snow on New York's Tug Hill Plateau. A total of 141 inches was reported at Redfield in Oswego County. Additional information on snowfall during the 2006-2007 winter season is available
  
  
• For February, precipitation was below average in the Southeast, Northeast, and Midwest regions. For the Southern Region, the 9th driest February on record followed two wetter-than-average months.
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• Across the United States, extreme drought conditions were observed in areas of Wyoming and Nebraska, as well as northern Minnesota and parts of Texas. Exceptional drought was limited to areas of south Texas. For more information on drought during February, please visit the U.S. Drought page.
  
  
• El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions have transitioned from ENSO-warm phase to ENSO-neutral by the end of February. Current forecasts indicate that a transition from ENSO-neutral conditions to La Niña could occur over the next 3 months. For additional information on ENSO conditions, please visit the NCDC ENSO Monitoring page and the latest NOAA ENSO Advisory.

• February Temperature: 34th coldest February in the 1895-2007 record.  The preliminary nationally averaged temperature was 32.86°F (0.48°C), which was 1.84°F (1.02°C) below the 1901-2000 (20th century) mean.
  
  
• February Precipitation: 16th driest nationally in the 1895-2007 record. An average of 1.56 inches (40 mm) fell over the contiguous U.S. in February, 0.46 inches (12 mm) below the 20th century mean for the month.
  
  
• December - February (winter) Temperature: 45th warmest in the 1895-to-present record, 0.63°F (0.35°C) above the 20th century mean. The preliminary nationally averaged December - February temperature was 33.63°F (0.91°C).
  
  
• December - February (winter) Precipitation: A total of 6.24 inches (159 mm) of precipitation fell during this 3-month period, which corresponds to a ranking of 47th driest.
  
  
• September - February (6-month): The national average temperature was the 57th coldest for this 6-month period. The nationally-averaged temperature was 43.71°F (6.51°C), which was 0.09°F (0.05°C) above the 20th century mean. At 14.25 inches (362 mm), September - February precipitation was above average and ranked as the 30th wettest such period in the 1895-2007 record.
  
  
• January to February (Year-to-date): The 42nd coldest January-February on record. The nationally averaged year-to-date temperature was 32.13°F (0.07°C), or 0.65°F (0.36°C) below the mean. The year-to-date period was the 21st driest January-February in the 113-year record, receiving a national average of 3.70 inches (94 mm) of precipitation during the period, or 0.54 inches (14 mm) below the 20th century mean.
  
  
• March 2006 - February 2007: The 13th warmest such period in the 1895-2007 record.  The preliminary nationally-averaged annual temperature was 53.94°F (12.19°C), which was 1.14°F (0.64°C) above the mean. Precipitation was near the mean for the March 2006 - February 2007 period, ranking it as the 50th driest March - February in the 112-year record.  The nationally-averaged annual precipitation accumulation was 29.17 inches (741 mm), or 0.03 inches (1 mm) above the 20th century mean.

• February Temperature: 42nd warmest on record (1918-2007) for February with temperatures 1.4°F (0.8°C) above the 1971-2000 mean.
  
  
• December-February Temperature: 28th warmest on record (1918-2007) for the 3-month period (December - February) with temperatures 1.4°F (0.8°C) above the 1971-2000 mean.
  
  

• February precipitation across Montana was 6th wettest on record. Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee were the 6th, 7th, and 8th driest on record, respectively.
  
  
• December - February temperatures across Delaware and New Jersey ranked 13th warmest on record. Four states, including Texas and New Mexico were below average for the period. Nebraska and Kansas tied for second wettest, while Tennessee was 6th driest.
  
  
• In the South and Southwest regions, December - February temperatures were below average.
  
  
• Temperatures over the past 6-months (September - February) were above average in the Northeast and the East North Central regions. Precipitation for the period was near to above average in all regions except the West .
  
  
• September - February temperatures were much above average for three states, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Connecticut. Seven states were below average for the period, including Colorado and New Mexico. Colorado and Indiana ranked 3rd wettest for September - February. California experienced its 11th driest such period on record.
  
  
• During the Year-to-Date period (January-February), temperatures were below average across 16 states in the central U.S. Only two states (Delaware and New Jersey) had temperatures above average during this period. All other states reported near-average temperatures. Alabama, Tennessee and Rhode Island each had their 10th driest such period on record. Eleven additional states, from the Southwest to the Great Lakes and into parts of the Northeast experienced above average precipitation during this period.
  
  
• January-February temperatures across the Southwest, South and Central regions were below average. Every other region was near average during this period. The Northwest, West and Southeast regions experienced below average precipitation during the year-to-date period.
  
  
• March 2006 - February 2007 was warmer or much-warmer-than-average for 37 states, including New Jersey. Indiana was record wettest for the period.
  
  

Global Highlights:

• Based on preliminary data, globally averaged combined land and sea surface temperature was the warmest on record for boreal winter (December 2006 - February 2007) and sixth warmest for February.
• December 2006 - February 2007 temperatures were above average in Europe, Asia, western Africa, southeastern Brazil, and the northeast half of the United States. Cooler-than-average conditions occurred in parts of Saudi Arabia and central U.S.
• Precipitation during December 2006 - February 2007 was above average in Scandinavia, England, northern Europe, southern Brazil, and the southern Plains to the eastern Great Lakes of the contiguous U.S. Drier than average conditions were observed in southern India, southern Europe, eastern and western U.S., and the eastern coast of Australia.
• ENSO conditions transitioned to a neutral phase during February.

Contents of this Section:

• Introduction
• Global Temperatures
• Global Precipitation
• ENSO SST Analysis
• References

Introduction

Temperature Rankings and Graphics

Precipitation

ENSO SST Analysis

Click here for animated loop

• Sea Surface Temperatures decreased across the equatorial Pacific Ocean during February, as the El Niño episode weakened to a neutral phase (shown in the adjacent animation of weekly sea surface temperature anomalies). A comprehensive summary of February 2007 ENSO conditions can be found on the ENSO monitoring page. For the latest advisory on ENSO conditions go to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) and the CPC ENSO Diagnostic Discussion.
  
  
  
• Images of sea surface temperature conditions are available for all weeks since 2003 at the weekly SST page.

References

Tropical Cyclone Favio brushed the southern tip of Madagascar and made landfall in Mozambique on February 22. Additional information can be found below.

Across the United States, extreme drought conditions were observed in areas of Wyoming and Nebraska, as well as northern Minnesota and parts of Texas. Exceptional drought was limited to areas of south Texas.

• National Drought Overview
• Detailed Drought Discussion
• State/Regional/National Moisture Status
• Pre-Instrumental Perspective

National Overview

• Based on the Palmer Drought Index, severe to extreme drought affected about 8 percent of the contiguous United States as of the end of February 2007, about the same as last month. By contrast, about 7 percent of the contiguous U.S. fell in the severely to extremely wet categories.
• About 22 percent of the contiguous U.S. fell in the moderate to extreme drought categories (based on the Palmer Drought Index) at the end of February .
• On a broad scale, the previous two decades (1980s and 1990s) were characterized by unusual wetness with short periods of extensive droughts, whereas the 1930s and 1950s were characterized by prolonged periods of extensive droughts with little wetness (moderate to extreme drought, severe to extreme drought).

• A file containing the national monthly percent area severely dry and wet from 1900 to present is available for the severe to extreme and moderate to extreme categories.
• Historical temperature, precipitation, and Palmer drought data from 1895 to present for climate divisions, states, and regions in the contiguous U.S. are available at the Climate Division: Temperature-Precipitation-Drought Data page in files having names that start with "drd964x" and ending with "txt" (without the quotes).

Detailed Drought Discussion

State/Regional/National Moisture Status

Pre-Instrumental Perspective

Contents of this Section:

• NH Snow Cover Extent

Northern Hemisphere Snow Cover Extent

Troposphere

Stratosphere

References