Warmer than normal, variable precipitation sums up February

February is in the rearview mirror, and when it comes to our weather, a lot of people are saying good riddance.

The month brought warmer-than-normal temperatures and variations between record-high snow and low snow. Let’s look back at the month.

Precipitation, accounting for rain and snow, was near normal for most of the region but above normal for parts of northern and eastern mainland Nova Scotia and parts of northern Labrador.

Precipitation was below normal for central and northern New Brunswick, western Prince Edward Island, slivers of Nova Scotia’s South Shore and Annapolis Valley, southeast and northwest Newfoundland, and much of Labrador.

However, snowfall itself was above normal for most of eastern Nova Scotia, parts of eastern Prince Edward Island, eastern Newfoundland and coastal Labrador. Elsewhere, snowfall was near to below normal.

Preliminary data indicates it was the snowiest February on record at Halifax Stanfield, the third snowiest in Sydney, and snow more than doubled the average in Makkovik, N.L. Meantime, Bas-caraquet and Saint John, N.B., had their second and third leastsnowiest February on record, respectively.

The multi-day storms over the eastern Maritimes in early February and central and eastern Newfoundland in mid-february were the most impactful snowstorms.

Temperature-wise, average temperatures were 1 to 3 C above normal for most but up to 4 C above normal for Prince Edward Island, portions of Cape Breton, New Brunswick, and western Newfoundland, and 3 to 6 C above normal in Labrador.

It was the second warmest February on record in Bonavista, N.L., and Bascaraquet, N.B.

While March is looking like it could be warmer than normal, we’ll need to watch for those final blasts of winter before truly settling into a spring weather pattern.

Temperatures were above normal across the province with near to below normal precipitation for most, although snowfall was above normal in spots.