REGIONAL— If you thought this past February was a chilly one, it’s not your imagination. In fact, the North Country has just experienced one of its top ten coldest Februarys on record, based on data from International Falls, which maintains the longest period of record north of Duluth. That’s according to state climatologist Pete Boulay.
For the month, the average temperature in the border city was minus-1.3 degrees F., or 10.4 degrees colder than average for the month. Only six other Februarys, most recently in 2015, were colder.
And the Falls wasn’t the coldest place in the region in February. Based on climate data for the month, that honor went to Kabetogama, where the month averaged minus-4.7 degrees F., a whopping 12.6-degree departure from its average. That was also the coldest monthly average reported at any weather station in the state for the month. Kabetogama also reported the coldest official overnight low in the state in February, at minus-44 degrees.
“Your February cold up there has been impressive,” said Boulay, who said the increasing snow depth likely has something to do with the cold temperatures so typical in February. Official thermometers are typically set at or about five feet above the ground in order to obtain an air temperature, rather than a ground temperature which can be several degrees colder. But as the snow piles up, the cold air settles at the top of the snowpack, which essentially puts the “ground” closer to official thermometers.
Yet January was cold as well, even with less snow on the ground. Kabetogama, again, proved the chilliest location in the region, with an average January temperature of minus-5.5 degrees F. But Celina, a few miles west of Cook, set the record for the lowest January temperature in the region, with minus-41. January was also without a thaw, as none of the reporting stations north of the Iron Range reported a temperature above the 32-degree mark in the month.
For the calendar winter season, which runs Dec. 1-Feb. 28, the temperatures were somewhat milder (yet still below average), thanks to an exceptionally mild December. Kabetogama was the coldest for the winter season, with a three-month average of 0.8 degrees F., which was 6.9 degrees colder than average. Other area stations ranged from a three-month average of 1.9 degrees in Orr to 5.0 degrees in Ely, with departures from average of between five and six degrees.
So far in 2022, however, temperatures are running close to record cold, as the January-February period finished as the coldest since 1982, and in seventh place overall in the 92 years of records at the Falls, with an average temperature of minus-1.7 degrees.
Snowfall for the season is running much closer to average, in part because snowfall was limited in November and December. But the area has been in a remarkably active weather pattern since the first of the year, with an almost endless stream of weather systems, known as Alberta Clippers, that have passed through the area over the past two months. “I can’t ever remember this many clippers,” said Boulay. “We’re at 20 so far this season.”
While not every clipper dropped snow on northeastern Minnesota, frequent, if modest, snow events proved a hallmark of the month and made this past February considerably snowier than average, according to Boulay, ranking as the eighth snowiest at International Falls, with a total of 19 inches.
For the winter season, the Falls is now running slightly ahead of average for snowfall, thanks to the snow in February, a month that has now become one of Minnesota’s most reliable snow-producing months.
Traditionally, February has been considered the driest month of the winter. But that trend has been changing, notes Boulay, pointing to a recent analysis by another of the state’s climatologists (see accompanying chart). March, which for years was considered the state’s snowiest month, has in more recent years been relegated to third- or fourth-place among the snowiest months, depending on the location.
Climatologists say they don’t know what’s caused the change or how long the trend will last, but it’s clear that February, particularly here in northeastern Minnesota, is making its wintry mark.