Weather

February 2021 and Winter 2020-2021 St. Cloud Weather Summary


 
An Entire Winter's Worth of Cold in 2 Weeks of February

February 2021 and Winter 2020-2021 Saint Cloud, MN, Weather Summary

Note: This is a summary of meteorological winter, which is defined as the three coldest months of the year (1 December through 28 February). Astronomical winter ends on the spring equinox, which will be on March 20 this year. That's the day when we get back to 12 hours of daylight. Also, note that the cold season can be used to refer to the part of the year when Minnesota can get snow (typically Oct-Apr, but can be longer) or the heating season (July 1-June 30). No, the groundhog doesn't work in Minnesota.

Twin Cities Consecutive Hours of Sub-Zero Temperatures
February St. Cloud Records
 Lows of -20 or colder Feb 28 Mid-Minnesota Snow Band

After having an extremely mild December (6.0 degrees above average) and January (8.0 degrees above average), arctic air surged into much of the US to the east of Rockies for most of the first 3 weeks of February. The consequences of that outbreak were severe to our south, producing some record cold temperatures and two major snowstorms in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee, producing major accidents, power loss, and deaths from road problems and hypothermia.

However, for the Northern Plains, this will pass as a typical arctic outbreak, with only the length of the cold approaching record length. There were 5 straight days when temperatures remained below zero all day, the longest streak since 1996, and within the 17 longest streaks on record. The 8 total days with a high of zero or colder was nearly double the seasonal average. There were 13 straight mornings with a low of zero or colder, the longest streak since January 3-15, 1999, and one of the 45 longest streaks on record. There were 5 lows of -20 or colder, including the -28 on February 14. However, no record cold lows were broken. St. Cloud did manage to break a couple of record cold highs (-6 on the 12th, -5 on the 13th) but that's because the old records were relatively mild (-5 on the 12th, -2 on the 13th).

St. Cloud Cold Temperatures Cold Season Through 31 January February
Total Cold Season
Cold Season Average
Highs of 0 or colder

0

8
8
4.3
Lows of 0 or colder
9
15
24
42.7
Lows of -20 or colder

0

5
5
5.4
5 straight highs of 0 or colder: longest since Jan. 30-Feb. 4, 1996   13 straight lows of 0 or colder: longest since Jan. 3-15, 1999

Through February 20, the St. Cloud February temperature was below -1 degree, which would have ranked around the 2nd coldest February on record. However, after the main source of arctic air in North America got pulled into the US and warmed up, there wasn't any more arctic air in reach. The dramatically milder temperatures pushed the February average to 7.6 degrees, ranking as merely the 19th coldest February on record. That cold was offset by the earlier two months, so the meteorological winter average temperature was 8.4 degrees, 1.4 degrees milder than the average. The Twin Cities also had a prolonged period of below zero temperatures (St. Cloud doesn't have hourly records, since there were no hourly temperatures taken before automation in the 1980's).

During the arctic cold, the main storm track remained well to our south from the Central Rockies to the Gulf Coast or Southern Plains, then to the Mid-Atlantic States. That allowed the two snow and ice storms to hit the South Central US, but kept most of the snow out of Minnesota, until the last day of the month, when a poorly forecast snow band dumped 4.4 inches on St. Cloud and 6-9 inches just to the south of St. Cloud. That was the largest St. Cloud snowfall since the early season snowfalls on October 20 (7.0 inches) and November 10 (7.2 inches). That snow brought the monthly total up to 8.4 inches and the seasonal snowfall through February 28 to 37.1 inches. There were an additional 2.2 inches from another storm early on March 1, pushing the seasonal snowfall to 39.3 inches. The average through the end of February is 34.2 inches.

The true test of the length of the winter in our part of the world is how long we are staring at the snow. St. Cloud began a streak of at least an inch of snow on the ground on December 24 and it has continued through March 3. That is 71 straight days with at least an inch of snow on the ground. The St. Cloud average is 86 consecutive days. We are unlikely to make it to the average, since mild weather is expected throughout the first 10 days of March.

 

Twin Cities Consecutive Hours of Sub-Zero Temperatures
February St. Cloud Records
 Lows of -20 or colder Feb 28 Mid-Minnesota Snow Band

February 2021 Statistics

Temperatures (°F)
Feb 2021
Normal
Average High Temperature (°F)
16.5
26.8
Average Low Temperature (°F)
-1.4
7.2
Mean Temperature for February (°F)
7.6
17.0
   
February Extremes
Temperature(°F)
Date
Warmest High Temperature for Feb 2021 (°F)
42
Feb. 22
Coldest High Temperature for Feb 2021 (°F)
-6 (broke record on Feb 12; see below)
Feb. 12, 14
Warmest Low Temperature for Feb 2021 (°F)
27
Feb. 23, 26
Coldest Low Temperature for Feb 2021 (°F)
-28
Feb. 15
Record Temperatures in February 2021
Temperature(°F)
Date
Old Record
Daily Record Cold High
-6
February 12
-5 set in 1905
-5
February 13
-2 set in 2020
Temperature Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
February 2021 Days with High Temperatures <= 32°F
22
20.0
February 2021 Days with High Temperatures <= 0°F
8
0.8
February 2021 Days with Low Temperatures <= 32°F
28
27.8
February 2021 Days with Low Temperatures <= 0°F
15
12.2
February 2021 Days with Low Temperatures <= -20°F
5
2.9
Liquid Equivalent Precipitation (in)
Feb 2021
Normal
February 2021 Saint Cloud Airport Melted Precipitation (in)
0.58 inch
0.59
February Extremes
Precipitation (in)
Date
Most Daily Precipitation in February 2021
0.26 inch
Feb 28
Record Precipitation in February 2021
Precipitation (in)
Date
Old Record
No records set
Precipitation Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
February 2021 Days with Measurable (>= 0.01 inch) Precipitation
6
5.7
February 2021 Days with >= 0.10 inch Precipitation
2
2.1
February 2021 Days with >= 0.25 inch Precipitation
1
0.8
February 2021 Days with >= 0.50 inch Precipitation
0
0.3
February 2021 Days with >= 1.00 inch Precipitation
0
0.0
Snowfall (in)
Feb. 2021
Normal
February 2021 Saint Cloud Airport Snowfall (in)
8.4
7.0
Snowfall Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
February 2021 Days with Measurable (>= 0.1 inch) Snowfall
6
5.7
February 2021 Days with >= 1.0 inch Snowfall
3
2.6
February 2021 Days with >= 2.0 inch Snowfall
1
1.4
February 2021 Days with >= 5.0 inch Snowfall
0
0.2
February Extremes
Snowfall (in)
Date
Most Daily Snowfall (in) in February 2021
4.4
February 28
Record Snowfall (in) in February 2021
Snowfall (in)
Date
Old Record
No records set
Twin Cities Consecutive Hours of Sub-Zero Temperatures
February St. Cloud Records
 Lows of -20 or colder Feb 28 Mid-Minnesota Snow Band

Winter (Dec 1-Feb 28) 2020-2021 Statistics

Temperatures (°F)
Winter 2020-2021
Normal
Average High Temperature (°F)
24.7
24.2
Average Low Temperature (°F)
8.0
5.3
Mean Temperature for Winter (°F)
16.4
14.8
 
Winter Extremes
Temperature
Date
Warmest High Temperature for Winter 2020-2021 (°F)
51
Dec 9, 2020
Coldest High Temperature for Winter 2020-2021 (°F)
-6
Feb 12, 14, 2021
Warmest Low Temperature for Winter 2020-2021 (°F)
30
Dec 7, 2020
Coldest Low Temperature for Winter 2020-2021 (°F)
-28
Feb 15, 2021
Temperature Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal

Cold Season 2020-2021
Days with High Temperatures <= 32°F

72
87.6

Cold Season 2020-2021
Days with High Temperatures <= 0°F

8
4.3

Cold Season 2020-2021
Days with High Temperatures <= -10°F

0
0.6

Cold Season 2020-2021
Days with Low Temperatures <= 32°F

139
170.4

Cold Season 2020-2021
Days with Low Temperatures <= 0°F

138
42.7

Cold Season 2020-2021
Days with Low Temperatures <= -20°F

5
5.4

Cold Season 2020-2021
Days with Low Temperatures <= -30°F

0
0.6
Liquid Equivalent Precipitation (in)
Winter 2020-2021
Normal
Saint Cloud Winter Melted Precipitation (in)
1.79
2.18
Precipitation Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
Winter 2020-2021
Days with Measurable (>= 0.01 inch) Precipitation
17
19.4
Winter 2020-2021
Days with >= 0.10 inch Precipitation
7
6.5
Winter 2020-2021
Days with >= 0.25 inch Precipitation
3
2.3
Winter 2020-2021
Days with >= 0.50 inch Precipitation
1
0.6
Winter 2020-2021
Days with >= 1.00 inch Precipitation
0
0.0

 

Snowfall (in)
Winter 2020-2021
Normal
Winter 2020-2021 Snowfall (in)
21.3
25.0
Seasonal Snowfall (in) for Cold Season 2020-2021 (October 1, 2020-February 28, 2021)
37.1 (39.3 through Mar 1)
34.2
     
Snowfall Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
Cold-Season 2020-2021 Days with Measurable Snowfall
27
24.8
Cold-Season 2020-2021 Days with >= 1.0 inch Snowfall
9
10.6
Cold-Season 2020-2021 Days with >= 2.0 inch Snowfall
6
5.5
Cold-Season 2020-2021 Days with >= 5.0 inch Snowfall
2
1.0
Twin Cities Consecutive Hours of Sub-Zero Temperatures
February St. Cloud Records
 Lows of -20 or colder Feb 28 Mid-Minnesota Snow Band

 Updated March 3, 2021

Historic temperature data provided courtesy of the Saint Cloud National Weather Service Office, and NOAA/NWS
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Send comments to: raweisman@stcloudstate.edu