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For anyone in the region who got the feeling their snow shovels stayed parked more than usual in February, that hunch was correct. In fact there has never been a February in recorded history where less snow fell in this area.
The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh recently announced that it had recorded just two-tenths of an inch of snow for the entire month of February. That's the smallest total since snowfall had first started to be recorded in 1800.
Actually, according to the NWS Pittsburgh, there were more 70-degree days recorded in February (three) than there were tenths of an inch of snow.
The previous record had stood for more than a century, a half-inch for the month in 1909. Sixth-tenths of an inch fell in February 1884, so the NWS had shown just three times in recorded history that less than an inch fell in a February.
Much of the reason behind that lack of snow came from warmer weather, said Lee Hendricks, meteorologist with NWS Pittsburgh. He said the average high temperature was 51 degrees for the month, which was 8.9 degrees warmer than normal.
Hendricks said that meteorologists could see it coming.
"Actually, we’re looking at this, even in the middle of January, it looked like we were going to have a steady warm-up," Hendricks said.
Hendricks also said that North America is in a La Nina weather pattern, where strong winds blow warm water at the ocean's surface from South America to Indonesia. That leads to warmer, drier weather in many parts of the United States, including the Ohio Valley.
As for any more chances of big snowfalls during the winter months, Hendricks said that window is closing.
"Generally, if we haven’t gotten anything by the middle of the month, that’s generally the death knell of any additional significant snow," he said.
Hendricks said the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh is looking at temperatures cooler than average and precipitation slightly higher than average for the next 30 days. The organization expects that to change significantly the deeper into the spring the area goes, though the volatility of the weather makes it impossible to say anything for certain.
"We looking at well-above-normal temperatures for April and May, as well as some very wet weather," he said. "Trying to get that nailed down anymore specific than that is foolhardy."