Texas Climate Report: February 1998

Temperature anomalies were not as extreme in February as they were in January, however warmer than normal conditions continued across nearly the entire state. Only in extreme West Texas did the monthly mean temperature dip below normal. The Edwards Plateau and Trans Pecos Regions both received less than the expected amount of precipitation for February, while the rest of the state experienced a wet month in general. The Panhandle received about 300% of the normal monthly precipitation and parts of Central and East Texas experienced rainfall totals for the month which were nearly twice the normal amount. Both numerous precipitation days and intense storms throughout February were significant contributors to these high totals.

All first order stations observed more precipitation days for the month than normal, even those stations in West Texas that did not reach their monthly normal precipitation amount. Ten different first-order stations observed ten or more of these days in February, more than one out of every three days were spent reaching for an umbrella. Each week of the month had its fair share of rain as well since there were numerous rain-producing events spread quite evenly throughout the month.

The magnitude of the average daily temperature anomalies oscillated from one week to the next. The first and third weeks of February were near normal with regards to temperature, with a slight tendency for warmer than normal temperatures (+1°F to +2°F) throughout the state. The second and fourth weeks were about 5°F above normal on the average for Texas. It was during the final week that the extreme temperatures were observed for the month. Del Rio observed the state's lowest temperature of 18°F on the 28th.

Severe weather crossed Central and East Texas at least one time in each of the four weeks in February. Much of the severe weather was spawned by the passage of cold fronts on the 3rd, 10th, 16th and 25th, along with a low pressure system that set up in the Southern Region of Texas on the 21st. On the 10th, tornadoes were reported in Frio and Wilson Counties near San Antonio. Numerous reports of damage resulted from these tornadoes and straight line winds of nearly 100 mph. Major damage to Sabine National Forest and Angelina National Forest occurred during these storms east of Lufkin as an approximated 103,000 acres of trees were downed from high winds. The estimated cost of damage is approximately $150 million. Tornadoes in Fort Bend, Galveston and Jim Wells Counties resulted from the severe thunderstorms on the 16th and 17th, while large hail and high winds (75 mph) caused still more damage across Southeast Texas on the 26th.

Monthly Summary for Selected Cities

Monthly Extremes

New Monthly Records

Climatic Averages for March