February 2026 OBS & Discussion

[SACRUS]

Records:

Highs:

EWR: 69 (2008)
NYC: 68 (2008)
LGA: 69 (2008)
JFK: 67 (2008)


Lows:

EWR: 5 (1995)
NYC: -4 (1895)
LGA: 4 (1995)
JFK: 7 (1995)

 

Historical:

 

1807 - It was the famous "Cold Friday" in the Midwest and South. The temperature did not rise above zero in Ohio and Kentucky. (David Ludlum)

1828: Plum trees blossomed in South Carolina six weeks early as the south was enjoying one of their warmest winters on record. Weather patterns would change however by late March. An inch of ice would form on the St. John's River. The Six-Mile Creek in northern Florida recorded a temperature of 26 °F. (Ref. Wilson Wx. History)

1835: A snowstorm dumped 6 inches in Williamsburg and as much as 20 inches at Virginia Beach. Over a foot of snow fell in Norfolk. (Ref. Virginia Weather History)

1856: Oswego, New York: A rare February lake effect snowfall buries the Oswego area with 6 feet of snow. (Ref. WxDoctor)

1899: A second area of low pressure moved in to DC from the south and dumped an additional 2 to 3 inches of snow bringing the snow cover in DC up to 8 inches. (p. 51 Washington Weather Book 2002 by Ambrose, Henry, Weiss)

1933: The temperature fell to -90° at Oimaykon, Russia, the coldest temperature ever in Asia. (Ref. Wilson Wx. History)

 

1978 - A massive nor'easter buried the cities of the northeastern U.S. Storm totals included 18 inches at New York City, 16 inches at Philadelphia, and 14 inches at Baltimore. The Boston MA area received 25 to 30 inches in "The Great New England Blizzard" and the mayor outlawed travel in the city for an entire week. (David Ludlum)
Boston, MA recorded 27 inches of snow in the greatest snowstorm in New England's modern history. Traffic was at a standstill for five days. Motorists had to abandon their cars and take shelter with private citizens and in churches. The Boston Globe went undelivered for the first time in 106 years. (Ref. Wilson Wx. History)

1980: Low pressure dumped heavy snow over eastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia. The storm moved out the next day and left 12.4 inches of snow at Norfolk, VA, their biggest snowstorm since December 1892. Elizabeth City, NC was buried under 20 inches. (Ref. Wilson Wx. History)

1982: A deep upper level trough combined with arctic high pressure across the central Plains brought record low temperatures from the Midwest to the southern Plains including: St. Cloud, MN: -33°, Alamosa, CO: -25°, La Crosse, WI: -22°, Topeka, KS: -21°, Wichita, KS: -21° (broke previous record by 13 degrees), Rockford, IL: -20 °F. (Ref. Wilson - Additional Temperatures Listed On This Link)

1987 - Brownsville, TX, was deluged with seven inches of rain in just two hours, and flooding in some parts of the city was worse than that caused by Hurricane Beulah in 1967. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

1988 - Arctic cold invaded the south central and eastern U.S. Sixteen cities reported new record low temperatures for the date. Squalls in the Great Lakes Region produced a foot of snow at Arcade NY in three hours. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

1989 - Forty-one cities in the western U.S. reported new record low temperatures for the date. Lows of -30 degrees at Ely NV and -33 degrees at Richfield UT were all-time records. Morning lows of 31 degrees at San Francisco CA and -15 degrees at Reno NV were records for February. Logan Canyon UT was the cold spot in the nation with a low of 54 degrees below zero, and Craig CO hit 51 degrees below zero. (The National Weather Summary)

1990 - A second cold front brought more heavy snow to the high elevations of Oregon, with 12 inches reported at Sunset Summit. Ten inches of snow blanketed Crater Lake and Mount Bachelor. Heavy snow also blanketed northeastern Nevada and parts of Washington State. In Nevada, up to a foot of snow was reported between Spring Creek and Lamoille. Stevens Pass WA received 14 inches of snow in 24 hours. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

2003: Feb. 6th-7th: Low pressure passing through North Carolina brought 3 to 8 inches of snow to the region. The heaviest amounts fell in a swath from Fredericksburg to Southern Anne Arundel County. An area of low pressure moved into central Illinois during the morning, continuing northeast into Indiana later that day. Thunder snow was reported from eastern Iowa into southern Wisconsin during the early morning, leading to 2 inch per hour snow accumulations rates. Some snow totals from this event include: Sinsinawa, WI: 18 inches, Hazel Green, WI: 14 inches, Cuba City, WI: 13 inches, Platteville, WI: 10.5 inches, Guttenberg, IA: 10 inches, Lancaster, WI: 8.7 inches, Elkader, IA: 8.4 inches, Strawberry Point, IA: 7.8 inches and Muscoda, WI: 7.5 inches. Near blizzard conditions occur across part of Lower Michigan with snowfall rates of one to two inches per hour. A wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain occurred from Kalamazoo to Jackson, MI. The storm dropped more than 8 inches of snow at Grand Rapids, contributing to their snowiest February on record. (Ref. Wilson Wx. History)

2010 - On February 5-6, a severe nor'easter, commonly referred to as Snowmageddon, impacted the east coast from North Carolina to New York. Some snowfall amounts include; 32.9 inches at Washington Dulles International Airport; 28.5 inches at the Philadelphia International Airport; 21.1 inches at the Pittsburgh International Airport; 18.2 in Atlantic City; Trace in Central Park.

2010: The Feb. 5-6 snowstorm was rated a Category 3 ("Major") snowstorm based on NESIS (Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale) and hit Northern VA and particularly Maryland very hard with power outages and up to 3 feet of snow in Allegheny County. Frostburg measured 36.0 inches at 112 PM on Feb. 6th. (Ref. See below Snowfall totals in Northern VA & MD) "Record 2-day snowfall on 5th-6th at IAD, 32.4"; BWI 24.8"; 2nd greatest at DCA, 17.8 the fourth greatest snowstorm on record"; Blizzard conditions in Anne Arundel and St. Mary’s Counties, MD, with wind gusts 35 mph and greater, blowing and drifting snow, visibilities less than 1/4 mile. Snowfall 20"-30" in most locations and as much as 38.3" in Elkridge, MD, and 34.5" in Leesburg, VA." (Ref. FEB PRESTO Page 1) The total snowfall today at West Henrico Co. - Glen Allen VA. area was 6.6 inches and total precipitation from snow and rainfall was 0.78 inches (total water equivalent for the storm of the 5th and 6th was 2.50 inches) and the snow ended at 1730 hrs.
The storm total snowfall at West Henrico Co. - Glen Allen VA. area was 11.1 inches but the rainfall in this storm melted about 2.0 inches of this from the 4.5 inches that fell on the 5th. It was the most snow I have ever seen fall on the back side of a storm from the wrap- around effect and just after the snow ended there was a total of 12.4 inches on the lawn. Other links--

2011: O'hare International Airport in chicago received 2.6 inches of snow today. This brings the total for the season so far to 50.1 inches and marks the first time in Chicago weather history that there have been four consecutive seasons of 50 inch or greater snowfall. (Ref. 1st time in Chicago's history with 4 consecutive seasons of 50 inches or greater snowfall.)

[SACRUS]

[NyWxGuy]

24 minutes ago, MANDA said:

Not overlooked by me.  Totally agree with you.  I find people just don’t want to hear about it or pay attention to it at this time of year.  We need to get into an above normal precipitation pattern soon or there will be significant issues as we head into the warm season.  We have been in a prolonged below normal precipitation pattern for the better part of a year.

Dry begets dry. That's why the past 2 seasons have featured a cold and dry pattern. In the 2000s and 2010s, such cold anomalies over east US featured amplified bowling ball type storms that led to lots of snow. Past 2 seasons have been dry when the cold was most prevalent. Lack of coastal amplification continues to be a problem. 

[TJW014]

8 minutes ago, NyWxGuy said:

Dry begets dry. That's why the past 2 seasons have featured a cold and dry pattern. In the 2000s and 2010s, such cold anomalies over east US featured amplified bowling ball type storms that led to lots of snow. Past 2 seasons have been dry when the cold was most prevalent. Lack of coastal amplification continues to be a problem. 

Really the past two years as a whole have been dry. Aside from May 2025, we've seen near or below average precipitation.

[psv88]

14 this morning. High res models showing a decent hit of snow for Suffolk county. NAM has 2-4” from west to east. HRRR and Euro more in the 1-2” range 

[jm1220]

2 minutes ago, psv88 said:

14 this morning. High res models showing a decent hit of snow for Suffolk county. NAM has 2-4” from west to east. HRRR and Euro more in the 1-2” range 

It’ll be a nowcast situation I think, we’ll have to see how the moisture regenerates east of the mountains. Hopefully we get a couple inches to freshen up the snowpack. 

[Freezing Drizzle]

11 hours ago, Northof78 said:

Tomorrow will mark 21 days (3 weeks) of straight snow cover across most of the region. Currently it appears likely we will hit the full straight 1 month mark by next weekend with cold temperatures remaining and some chance of additional snows in the period. Fairly rare for N/C NJ and NYC Metro, we get a 1 month (or more) straight of snow cover roughly every 5/6 winters. 

Here on the north NJ coast, most winters, over the decades, do not have snowfall on snow events.

[MANDA]

It has been a little bit cold lately.

Ice on Chesapeake Bay:

https://x.com/i/status/2019537040808046913

 

 

[Freezing Drizzle]

2 hours ago, SnoSki14 said:

Something overlooked is how dry things have been and how we're all technically in a drought. Reservoirs are extremely low vs average. 

I had commented that my humidifier has been running non-stop most of this winter, just to keep the interior RH to 35%

[Freezing Drizzle]

4 minutes ago, MANDA said:

It has been a little bit cold lately.

Ice on Chesapeake Bay:

https://x.com/i/status/2019537040808046913

 

 

What is the reason for much less ice on Lake Ontario?

[Picard]

8 minutes ago, Freezing Drizzle said:

I had commented that my humidifier has been running non-stop most of this winter, just to keep the interior RH to 35%

I keep two humidifiers - one in each bedroom to maintain around 30% for sleeping and healthier sinuses.  The rest of the house has been running 10-20% the past month and my one at work has shown single digits on a few days.

3 minutes ago, Freezing Drizzle said:

What is the reason for much less ice on Lake Ontario?

Maybe deeper water?

[MANDA]

6 minutes ago, Picard said:

I keep two humidifiers - one in each bedroom to maintain around 30% for sleeping and healthier sinuses.  The rest of the house has been running 10-20% the past month and my one at work has shown single digits on a few days.

Maybe deeper water?

Yes, much deeper water.

[CPcantmeasuresnow]

24 minutes ago, Freezing Drizzle said:

What is the reason for much less ice on Lake Ontario?

It's much deeper than Lake Erie and rarely freezes over. 
 

Lake Ontario has a maximum depth of 800 feet Lake Erie barely over 200 feet. Lake Ontario is actually deeper than Lake Huron. 

[Nibor]

29 minutes ago, jm1220 said:

It’ll be a nowcast situation I think, we’ll have to see how the moisture regenerates east of the mountains. Hopefully we get a couple inches to freshen up the snowpack. 

I’m hoping for a half inch here but like you said in a previous post this setup has been shifting east. Eastern LI should do the best. 

[Freezing Drizzle]

2 hours ago, CPcantmeasuresnow said:

It's much deeper than Lake Erie and rarely freezes over. 
 

Lake Ontario has a maximum depth of 800 feet Lake Erie barely over 200 feet. Lake Ontario is actually deeper than Lake Huron. 

Thanks, guys. I know Erie is very shallow, I was just surprised at the degree of difference versus the other lakes.

[psv88]

20 minutes ago, Freezing Drizzle said:

Thanks, guys. I know Erie is very shallow, I was just surprised at the degree versus the other lakes.

Same reason the great South Bay freezes but the Long Island sound doesn’t. Sound is much deeper 

[Nibor]

22 minutes ago, Freezing Drizzle said:

Thanks, guys. I know Erie is very shallow, I was just surprised at the degree versus the other lakes.

I think some of the finger lakes are actually much deeper than Erie.

[dWave]

On 2/5/2026 at 8:34 AM, jm1220 said:

Jones Beach water temp down to 35.4 degrees. That’s pretty damn cold, coldest normally gets down to 38-39. And it’ll keep getting colder because of this weekend. 

Back door cold front season this spring gonna be interesting. Those depressing misty 45 degrees days, knowing its like 70 in Philly and 80 in DC.

[ForestHillWx]

Cayuga and Seneca are both deeper; I feel like I read the US Navy tested early submarines on one of them. 

[MANDA]

17 minutes ago, ForestHillWx said:

Cayuga and Seneca are both deeper; I feel like I read the US Navy tested early submarines on one of them. 

They do.  It is located at Seneca Lake.  I had read about it as well a long time ago and totally forgot about it until you mentioned it.

I believe the largest of the Finger Lakes are all notably deeper than Lake Erie.  Erie is relatively shallow.  The smaller lakes in the Finger Lakes region are quite shallow.

[psv88]

GFS and RGEM on the 1-3” train for Suffolk. GFS gone wild like 3k NAM with 3-4”

[Stormlover74]

1 minute ago, psv88 said:

GFS and RGEM on the 1-3” train for Suffolk. GFS gone wild like 3k NAM with 3-4”

Yeah you guys will do well

[wthrmn654]

[Islip, NY Temperature Update]: The temperature has reached 33 degrees at Islip, NY at 12:13pm ending the streak of 13 consecutive days of a high temperature 32 degrees or lower (began 1/24/26). It is the second longest streak at Islip since 1963 tying 2018 which ended 1/13/2018. The number 1 streak is 16 days, which ended 2/20/1979.

[NorthShoreWx]

2 hours ago, jm1220 said:

It’ll be a nowcast situation I think, we’ll have to see how the moisture regenerates east of the mountains. Hopefully we get a couple inches to freshen up the snowpack. 

Well, this won't be helpful:

WSR-88D OUTAGE NOTIFICATION

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY

1058 PM EST THU FEB 05 2026

THE UPTON NY WSR-88D /KOKX/ RADAR IS OUT OF SERVICE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. NO EXACT ESTIMATE OF RETURN TO SERVICE IS AVAILABLE.

[wthrmn654]

2 minutes ago, NorthShoreWx said:

Well, this won't be helpful:

WSR-88D OUTAGE NOTIFICATION

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY

1058 PM EST THU FEB 05 2026

THE UPTON NY WSR-88D /KOKX/ RADAR IS OUT OF SERVICE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. NO EXACT ESTIMATE OF RETURN TO SERVICE IS AVAILABLE.

Give me a minute I'll ask them for any info. 

[wthrmn654]

It gets worse,  mount Holy is very much down down, inoperable to be exact.....

 

[weathermedic]

JFK site is working on WeatherTap if anyone has that

[wthrmn654]

&&

.CLIMATE...
Record Low Maximum Temperatures for Sun Feb 8:

KEWR:  18/1985
KBDR:  18/1994
KNYC:   8/1895
KLGA:  21/1985
KJFK:  22/1967
KISP:  20/1985

Record Low Temperatures for Mon Feb 9:

KEWR: -14/1934
KBDR:   5/1963
KNYC: -15/1934
KLGA:   7/1979
KJFK:   8/1979
KISP:   5/1967

The record lows for Central Park and Newark above represent the all
time record lows for those sites. Temperatures are not expected
to fall to those levels.

[wthrmn654]

Just now, weathermedic said:

JFK site is working on WeatherTap if anyone has that

It's only good short range. 

[wthrmn654]

Technicians are working right now, but it's unknown on time frame for uptons.