Norfolk’s February Weather

By Russell Russ 

After a warm November and December and the warmest January on record, it was a shock to have February start out so cold. February’s first week was considerably colder than normal. Many were thinking that winter might finally have arrived, but those thoughts were dashed as the month progressed. By the last week of the month, with warmer temperatures the norm and hardly any snowfall, most people had given up on winter and were ready for spring. February is typically a solid winter month in Norfolk, but that was not the case this year. 

The month’s low temperature of minus 17 was observed on Feb. 4. This was a daily record low for this date and the coldest temperature recorded since the minus 19 that was recorded on Feb. 14, 2016. It was a one-day cold snap and then temperatures turned warmer for most of the rest of the month. The month’s high temperature of 57 was observed on Feb. 15. Two days tied record daily high temperatures. A high of 50 on Feb. 10 tied the 2002 record, and a high of 54 on Feb. 17 tied the 2011 record. The monthly mean temperature was 28.6 degrees, which was 6.4 degrees above normal and tied with February 2020 as Norfolk’s seventh warmest February over the last 92 years. The warmest February on record was in 2002 with 30.7 degrees. The coldest was in 1934 with 9.0 degrees, making that also the coldest month recorded at this weather station. The coldest temperature recorded at this weather station (since January 1932) was minus 26 degrees on Feb. 16, 1943. On that same day, a temperature of minus 37 was recorded at a satellite valley weather station on Westside Road.    

Total precipitation recorded for the month was 1.70 inches, 1.93 inches below normal. This February was the driest (and least snowy) right up to the third week of the month. It ended up being Norfolk’s sixth driest February. A majority of this month’s precipitation was in the form of rain, freezing rain and sleet, with a small portion coming as snowfall. Once again, this winter’s weather patterns were just not forming in a way to produce much snow here in Norfolk. The record for most February total precipitation is 11.70 inches from 1981, the least amount is 0.60 inch from 1987. 

February’s monthly snowfall total of 9.7 inches was 10.6 inches below normal. There was no measurable snowfall until Feb. 21, and the month was ranking as the least snowy February right up until the last day of the month when Norfolk received 5.9 inches of snow. This February ended up being Norfolk’s 15th least snowy February. Snow-on-ground depths ranged from zero to two inches until the last day of the month when it peaked at eight inches. The record for most February snowfall is 52.4 inches from 1969, and the least is 4.8 inches from 1998.

The 2023 calendar year snowfall total through February was 17.7 inches, 23.1 inches below normal. The snowfall total for this winter season (October through February) was 32.0 inches, 33.1 inches below normal. In recent years Norfolk has seen several low snowfall winters, and this season seems to be no different. March and April can be snowy in Norfolk, but by late February most people had given up on winter and were ready for spring. Could March bring some surprises? 

Weather observations are recorded by the Great Mountain Forest at Norfolk’s National Weather Service Cooperative Weather Observer Station, Norfolk 2SW.