February 2024 Review

Another interesting month, and another month-in-review - let's take a big look back at February 2024.

Even with the late deepfreeze, February 2024's average High of -0.7°C was our 27th warmest on record. The average Low of -10°C was 16th warmest.



High Temperatures

February 2024 started warm, and then spent several weeks barely above average. 

Then a brief heatwave, including a new record of 11.2°C on February 23rd. 

And then right into a deepfreeze. 

20 Highs were above our 30-year average, and 9 were below.

In February we average 11 Highs above-freezing, and 2024 had 14. February averages 4 Highs of 5°C, and 2024 had 7. 

And February had 2 Highs reach 10°C. Recently 2017 had 3, and 2016 had 2.



Warm Winter Days

For the 91 days from December-February we had 49 Highs reach 0°C (54%), which is tied for 4th most on record.

That included 19 Highs that got to 5°C (21%), and 4 at 10°C (4%).



Low Temperatures

For the Lows, February 2024 was warm to start, and then really average until the brief heatwave, followed by the brief deepfreeze. 

20 Lows were above average, and 9 were below.

February can certainly be a month of deepfreezes, averaging 6 Lows of -20°C, including 2 of -25°C. 

This year it went a little easy on us, with just 3 -20°C Lows, and the coldest was -23.5°C. 

The last time that February didn't reach -25°C was 2016.



Cold Winter Days

So far this winter we have had 14 Lows reach -20°C, when the average at the end of February is around 22.

We've had 7 -25°C Lows, while the average is around 11, and 5 -30°C Lows compared to an average of 4.



Deepfreeze Season

We're getting close to the end of our deepfreeze season, but we're not quite there yet. 

The likelihood of -20°C Lows and even -25°C Lows stays pretty high until around March 10th. After that they're still possible, but are much more rare.



Warm & Cold Months

January 2024's temperatures were pretty close to our 20th century. But February was above average, even with its little deepfreeze. The High of -0.7°C was 4.1°C warmer than the 20th century average, and the Low of -10°C was 5.2°C warmer.



Across Canada

February 2024 was fairly warm across the country, and especially in Winnipeg. Their High of -2.4°C was 7.3°C warmer than their 20th century average, and their Low of -10.5°C was 9.9°C warmer.

Winnipeg started February with 6 new records for warmest-Lows, following 3 more at the end of January. This has been their warmest start to a year on record.



Cold Days Across Canada

At the end of February Winnipeg has only had 14 Lows of -20°C, when they average 37. Regina & Saskatoon are also well below their average, along with Calgary & Edmonton.



Snow

In February we average 14cm of snow, and the late storm pushed 2024 over that to 20.9cm. This is the first time that we've had a snowier-than-average month since November 2022.

By the end of February we average 79cm of snowfall. The late storm pushed us up to 44.4cm.

Over a whole winter our average is around 120cm, but for March-May we average another 40cm.

Across the country Edmonton has finally recorded more snow than Vancouver's 37cm, but we're still below Toronto's 49cm.

Charlottetown is at the top over 320cm, and Halifax & St. John's are both getting close to 250cm.



Snowstorms

Our biggest snowday of February, and of the winter so far, was 8.4cm on February 25th.

Combined with the 26th the 2-day total was 15.8cm. 15cm+ is a pretty big storm, and some winters have more than one of those, but a lot of winters don't have any.

Our 15cm storm at the end of the month felt like a lot, but: 

• Charlottetown had 60.4cm on February 3rd, and 125cm total this month. 
• Halifax had 84cm on February 2nd-4th, and 134cm total.

Snowdepth

At the end of February we average 21cm of snowdepth. 

Late in the month Campsie and Stony Plain were at 0cm, and the airport was down to 2cm. 

But the big storm pushed Campsie to 3cm, the airport to 13cm, Stony Plain to 15cm, and Elk Island to 27cm.

On average our big spring melt starts after the first week of March.

Some years are early, and can be snowfree well before the end of March. But others like 2020 or 2018 can hang on until mid-April.

Across the country, Halifax's snowdepth got to 96cm, and St. John's reached 82cm. Charlottetown got to 58cm, Dawson City spent most of the month around 55cm, and Moncton got to 45cm.



March

March averages 20 days with Highs above freezing, and we often start to hit 10°C. It also averages about 3 -20°C Lows, though. 

 March's average snowfall is 20cm, which is pretty typical for our winter months.