Sheldon, Iowa — Despite the blizzard that occurred in late February, most northwest Iowans will remember February, 2017, as a very pleasant month, weather wise.
There is no doubt that February was a very warm one in our part of the country, with 15 days of the 28-day month seeing the mercury top out at 40-degrees or above, with 4 of those days seeing temperatures reach into the 60’s. Despite the prolonged period of warm weather, there was only one high temperature record broken during February. The 24-hour high temperature recorded at the KIWA studios in Sheldon on February 22nd was 66-degrees, which surpassed the old record of 62-degrees, which had stood since 1909. Sheldon’s average high temperature for February was 40-degrees, or a full 10-degrees higher than the normal average high of 30-degrees.
The average low temperature for the month of February was 20-degrees, that’s 8-degrees warmer than the normal average low of 12-degrees. The coldest low temperature in Sheldon during the month of February was 3-degrees, which happened February 4th. No new record lows were set during the month of February. The record lows for the month were, and remain, in the double-digits below zero for the entire month of February.
Sheldon received a larger-than-normal amount of rainfall during February. 1.27-inches of moisture fell on Sheldon during February, that’s slightly more than a half-inch above the normal of just under three-quarters of an inch. As for snowfall, 5.5-inches of the white stuff fell on Sheldon during February, that’s 1.1-inches below the normal snowfall of 6.6-inches.
If the old saying about March coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb is accurate, the 2-inch snowfall that ushered in the month of March should indicate mild weather later in the month.
