Precipitation Report: Snowed-In February
A series of snowstorms brought an unusually heavy amount of snow to the Lake Almanor Basin in February, boosting our precipitation totals over the top.
West shore total snowfall for the month came to 123 inches (a bit over 10 feet), several times the average amount for February.
That brought our season total to 186.5 inches, or 189 percent of the long-term average for this point in the season. That total actually exceeds our annual average snowfall by a substantial margin.
The snow and minor amounts of rain yielded a monthly water content of 16.6 inches, about three times the average for February. Seasonal total precipitation now stands at 35.79 inches, or 159 percent of the long-term average. Again, that figure exceeds our annual average total precipitation.
February temperatures were colder than average. Our average daily high was about 6 degrees cooler than the norm, while our average morning low was almost 5 degrees cooler.
Chester airport dipped to zero degrees on three separate mornings.
March usually brings us another 21 inches of snow and 4-plus inches of water. At this point, most of us would be very happy if the monthly precipitation was limited to those levels.
