Northwest Iowa — As far as the weather is concerned, the month of February was rather uneventful. The average daily high temperature in Sheldon was 30 degrees compared to 31 for a normal or ‘average’ year. The average daily low was 11 degrees compared to a normal 12. We experienced two separate ‘one inch’ snowfalls followed by several days of ‘nuisance snows’ that added up to only another two-tenths of an inch. That’s still more than was measured in 1926, when Sheldon measured only half an inch in February.
When snow in February is discussed, many people in the area have strong memories of the snow in 1962. Total snow for the month was 34.6 inches, most of it falling in a ten day period from February 14th to 24th. This eclipsed the previous record of 31 inches set in 1936. But, in 1962 the weather offered no reprieve after the February snow, dumping another 19.4 inches beginning March 2nd. Exactly fifty inches in a period of about six weeks.
Now, as we enter the month of March, this winter’s snowfall is 23.7 inches, 4.65 inches below normal. What’s going to happen in March….that will be the rest of the story.
