MONTHLY WEATHER OBSERVATIONS
LAVALE MD
FEBRUARY 2003
OBSERVER NATE MULLINS

Observations for this month taken by Steve and Sara Mullins

Special Observations:  F=fog, T=thunder, H=hail,
S=sleet, G=glaze, DW=damaging winds
Observation time for this station is midnight.

	Temperature, °F		Precipitation, In.		
				Liquid	Solid	7am
	24-hour		Temp	Rain	Snow/	Snow
Date	Max	Min	at Obs	Equiv	Ice	Depth	Special Obs.

1	37	32		   T	   T	 1	F
2	42	31
3	48	24
4	43	28		 .13	   T	 T	F
5	30	20		   T	 0.2	 T
6	28	11		 .01	 0.1	 T
7	36	27		 .17	 2.0	 2
8	26	12		 .01	 0.2	 2
9	41	15				 2
10	36	26		 .10	 1.0	 1
11	30	16		 .10	 1.0	 2
12	33	18		   T	   T	 2
13	28	18				 1
14	40	20				 1
15	28	18		 .32	 2.5	 3
16	16	14		1.77	18.0	 7
17	33	14		 .78	 7.5	26	G
18	38	23		   T	   T	27
19	46	38		   T		25
20	47	28				22
21	37	19		 .32	   T	17	F,G	
22	38	33		 .66		15	F
23	36	25		 .14	   T	10	F
24	46	23		 .05	 0.5	10
25	42	19				 9
26	33	12		 .12	 1.5	 9	F
27	32	16		 .13	 1.5	10
28	37	22		 .04	 0.5	12
29	
30	
31	

AVG	36.0	21.5	SUM	4.85	36.5	 -	 	
EXT	48	11  	MAX	1.77 	18.0  	27 
Date	3	6 	DATE	16	16 	18  
*=Also occurred on earlier dates

Miscellaneous Stats:

Mean Monthly Temperature:  28.7 F
Year precipitation to date:  7.49"
Season snowfall to date:  62.5"
Number of days with:
	Fog:   6
	Ice Pellets:   0  	
	Glaze:   2	
	Thunder:   0	
	Hail:   0	
	Damaging Winds:  0	

NOTES AND/OR SIGNIFICANT EVENTS:

4th:  Light rains overnight not as much as expected only 0.13" fell.  Turned colder as a cold
      front came through with gusty winds and snow showers toward midnight.
5th:  Dusting of snow overnight and a cold, windy and blustery day high 30 F.
6th:  Became cloudy with snow beginning late this evening, 0.1" by midnight.

SNOW
7th:  Light snow overnight ended by 8am total a total of 2.1" (2.0" for day).  Heavier snow fell
      in central & eastern parts of MD especially around Baltimore where up to 8" or more fell.
8th:  A few snow showers overnight produced a dusting, then became clear but still cold.

SNOW SHOWERS
10th: Periods of light snow at times, little accumulation.  Snow squall late this evening
      produced nearly 1" of accumulation in less than an hour.  Total for the day 1.0".
11th: More snow showers overnight with about another 1/4" accumulation.  Snow squalls again this
      evening brought the total for the day to another 1.0".
12th: Snow showers ended overnight, trace accumulation.  Became very windy with strong west wind
      gusts topping 30 mph at times.
13th: Continued windy with gusty winds 30+ mph.

SNOWSTORM OF HISTORICAL PROPORTIONS - BLIZZARD OF 2003
15th: Light to moderate snow overnight tapered to flurries by 8am.  Snow continued to skirt just
      to the south of us most of the day.  Remainded cloudy and cold with flurries at times.
      Snow began at earnest again just before midnight.  Total accumulation 2.5".
16th: Steady snow overnight with 7" on the ground at 7am.  Steady snow continued to pile up all
      day long.  Snow was heavy at times this evening with rates at times better than an inch
      per hour.  Total accumulation for the day 18.0" melting down to 1.77" precipitation.
17th: Snow continued overnight and was still heavy at times.  Another 6.0" fell by 7am with a
      total of 26" on the ground by then.  Snow tapered to flurries by 8am and was occasionally
      mixed with freezing drizzle.  Another period of light to moderate snow late this evening
      about 9pm-midnight with another 1.5" falling.  Total snow today 7.5" and .78" liquid
      equivalent.
18th: Snow finally tapered off just after midnight, some light snow showers through the morning
      but not measurable. 

**The total snowfall from this event was 28.0" making it a close second only to the Blizzard of
1996, which dropped 30.0" of snow on January 6-8, 1996.  The water equivalent of this storm,
however, was much higher, melting down to a total of 2.87".  Even though the Blizzard of 1996
dropped slightly more snow, the liquid meltdown of the 30" was only 1.93".**

19th: A few sprinkles early otherwise mostly cloudy and milder
20th: A mild and mostly sunny day high 47F

RAIN - NOT AS HEAVY AS EXPECTED

21st: Heavy fog developed today with moderate rain this afternoon.  Temperatures were right
      around freezing with a thin layer of ice.  Drizzle this evening, total precip .32"
22nd: Rain began again early this morning and was moderate to heavy at times.  Dense fog.  Rain
      tapered off by around noon.  A few sprinkles on and off this afternoon.  Total rain .66"
23rd: A few showers overnight and early this morning .14" fell.  Became very windy with strong
      NW winds gusting 30-40 mph.  Some snow flurries later this evening but not measurable.

MORE PERIODS OF SNOW
24th: Snow showers this morning with 0.5" accumulation.  Warmed up to 46 F this afternoon.
26th: Periods of light snow began early this morning and continued most of the morning with 1.5"
      accumulation.  Low clouds, light fog and haze all day.
27th: Cloudy all day with snow developing during the evening hours.  Most of it was light and
      tapered to snow showers by midnight.  Another 1.5" accumulation.
28th: More periods of light snow and snow showers overnight and through mid-morning for an
      additional 0.5" of snow and 2.0" from this system.  Again areas of eastern/southern MD got
      several inches more.

COMMENTS ON FEBRUARY'S WEATHER:

What a difference a year makes.  A total of 36.5" of snow fell this February, making it the 2nd
snowiest month on my records since 1992, only behind January 1996 with 41.0".  Most of the snow
fell from the President's Day storm, with 25.5" on the 16th-17th and 28.0" total.  With 4.85"
precipitation and 36.5" snow, this was a far cry from last February which yielded a paltry 0.40"
precipitation and 3.0" snow.  The average temperature for February 2003 was 28.7 F, compared to
a much warmer average of 35.9 F last February, a 7.2 degree difference.

    Source: geocities.com/hotdogg21502