Winter-like, but Lacking Snowfall

By Russell Russ 

February is one of Norfolk’s solid-bet winter months and this February was mostly true to form. Temperatures and total precipitation were near normal. What was lacking was snowfall. While there was wintry precipitation during numerous days and snow on the ground every day of the month, it just did not seem very snowy. Norfolk’s largest February snowstorms this year were only in the three-to-four-inch range. The storms came, but most of them brought sleet or freezing rain or a combination of all of the above. 

The month’s low temperature of 1 degree was observed on Feb. 2 and the high of 50 was observed on Feb. 25. With a monthly mean temperature of 23.4 degrees, it was 1.2 degrees above normal. There were five days with temperatures in the single digits and none with below-zero temperatures. Until Feb. 23, temperatures were running 1.5 degrees below normal. Temperatures increased during the last week of the month, which also happened to be when the sap began to flow from the sugar maples. Feb. 25 was the first day of sap flow in Norfolk this year, about a week later than average. Maple season got off to a slow start in Norfolk this year. The warmest February since 1932 was in 2002 with 30.7 degrees. Six of the eight warmest Februarys have occurred over the last 14 years. The coldest February, and coldest of any month, was in 1934 with 9.0 degrees. The second coldest of any month was a fairly recent February 2015 with 10.9 degrees.

Total precipitation recorded for the month was 3.19 inches, 0.44 inches below normal. As one would expect in February, most of the precipitation was wintery in form. Unfortunately, this included several days with freezing rain. Nobody likes freezing rain. The record for most February total precipitation was in 1981 with 11.66 inches. The least was in 1987 with 0.67 inches.

February’s monthly snowfall total of 12.5 inches was 7.8 inches below normal. Below normal, but not high ranking. Snow depths ranged from two inches to eight inches throughout the month. For a majority of the month, the snow cover was coated with an icy crust. Not the best snow conditions for animal or human trekking. The record for most February snowfall is 52.4 inches from 1969 and the least is 4.8 inches from 1998.

The 2025 calendar-year snowfall total through February was 23.5 inches, 17.3 inches below normal and 10 inches below last year’s total through February. The snowfall total for this winter season (October through February) was 38.4 inches, 26.7 inches below normal, but just 2.4 inches below last winter through February. Every month this winter has been below normal for snowfall. 

An early look into March’s weather through March 23 showed that winter was closing out in weak fashion. Temperatures were running six degrees above normal and total precipitation and snowfall were well below normal. With only 0.6 inches of snowfall this March, it very well might be very high ranking for least snow in March. On the plus side, a colder period with more typical March temperatures arrived March 24, possibly keeping the maple season alive for another week. On the negative side, it is probably time to put the snow toys away—unless you rely on the manmade type of snow. 

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