February wrap-up and March warm-up!

We're into March, which means the start of a new meteorological season! Spring is defined by meteorologists and climatologists as March-April-May, so there's no use waiting until March 20 for the arrival of spring - if you ask me, it's spring! (So let's get rid of this snow already...)

The February statistics have been compiled and Memphis officially ended up warmer and drier than an average February. Here is the monthly recap from the NWS. The average temperature was 47.9 degrees, which was a whopping 3.0 degrees above normal! The highest temp for the month was 74 degrees on the 18th and the lowest was 21, on the 4th and 5th. Precipitation totaled 3.26", which is a little more than an inch below normal. There were 11 days it dropped to or below freezing, 2 below normal. The 3.0" of snow officially measured on 2/28 brings our seasonal total to 3.8".

In Bartlett, WXLIVE! recorded an average temperature was 46.6 degrees, a max of 73.5 on the 18th and a min of 17.3 degrees on the 5th. Precipitation totaled 2.22", though some of the recorded precipitation on 3/1 of 0.62" was snow that fell on the 28th and was recorded on the 1st. Total snowfall for the month was 8.9" - which includes snow that fell in the wee morning hours on the 1st.

As for the rest of the "first week of spring," it will definitely start to feel more spring-like! After one more cold day today, the jetstream will begin lifting to the north, signaling a pattern shift for the southeast U.S. Warmer high pressure takes control, wind shifts to the south by Wednesday, and highs jump back up to 70+ by Thursday. More details can be found in the MWN Forecast.