...FEBRUARY AND WINTER SEASON HIGHLIGHTS...
...23RD WETTEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD...
...22ND WETTEST JANUARY/FEBRUARY PERIOD ON RECORD...
...25TH WETTEST WINTER SEASON ON RECORD...
...FIRST WINTER SEASON WITH ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL SINCE 1997-98...
...13TH WARMEST WINTER SEASON ON RECORD...

DROUGHT CONDITIONS...WHICH HAS PLAGUED THE AREA SINCE 1999...IMPROVED
DURING FEBRUARY AND THE WINTER OF 2004-2005. RAINFALL AMOUNTS ACROSS
THE METRO AREA DURING FEBRUARY VARIED WIDELY ON THE VALLEY FLOOR AND
RANGED FROM TWO-THIRDS OF AN INCH /0.67"/ TO TWO INCHES /2.00/. UP
TO TWO AND A HALF INCHES /2.50"/ WAS RECORDED IN THE FOOTHILLS AND IN
REDINGTON PASS. THE SURROUNDING MOUNTAINS...THANKS TO UPSLOPE FLOW
WHICH ENHANCED PRECIPITATION...RECORDED BETWEEN FOUR AND EIGHT INCHES
OF PRECIPITATION. DUE TO THE WARM NATURE OF THE STORMS DURING
FEBRUARY...LITTLE MOUNTAIN SNOW WAS RECORDED. OFFICIALLY THE
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT RECORDED JUST OVER AN INCH AND A QUARTER
/1.27"/ WHICH IS NEARLY FOUR-TENTHS OF AN INCH ABOVE NORMAL AND RANKS
AS THE 23RD WETTEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD (TIED WITH 1932).

THE WARM NATURE OF STORMS THAT AFFECTED THE AREA DURING FEBRUARY...
THE MONTH ENDED UP ABOVE NORMAL WITH AN AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE
OF 55.8 DEGREES. THIS WAS DESPITE THE AVERAGE MONTHLY HIGH
TEMPERATURE BEING 3.5 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. ON THE FLIP SIDE...THE
AVERAGE MONTHLY LOW TEMPERATURE WAS 46.7 DEGREES OR 5.1 DEGREES
ABOVE NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 4TH WARMEST ON RECORD. THIS IS QUITE
A CHANGE FROM FEBRUARY 2004 WHEN THE AVERAGE MONTHLY LOW TEMPERATURE
WAS 37.6 DEGREES.

...FEBRUARY 2005 STATS...           MONTH     NORMAL    DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE             64.9      68.4       - 3.5
AVERAGE LOW  TEMPERATURE             46.7      41.6       + 5.1
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE                  55.8      55.0       + 0.8
RAINFALL                             1.27"     0.88"     + 0.39"

THE 2004-2005 WINTER SEASON HAD AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 54.3
DEGREES...WHICH WAS 1.4 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL...AND RANKS AS THE 13TH
WARMEST WINTER SEASON ON RECORD (TIED WITH 1991). THE WARMER THAN
NORMAL WINTER WAS DRIVEN BY THE AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE WHICH WAS
43.2 DEGREES AND RANKS AS THE 6TH WARMEST ON RECORD. THERE WERE ONLY
SIX DAYS IN WHICH THE LOW TEMPERATURE WAS 32 DEGREES OR COLDER. THE
1971-2000 AVERAGE IS 11 DAYS. TEMPERATURE EXTREMES FOR THE MONTH
RANGED FROM A HIGH OF 73 DEGREES ON THE 18TH TO A LOW OF 40 DEGREES
ON THE 5TH AND 28TH.

AVERAGE WINTER SEASON TEMPERATURE SINCE 1991...
1991-1992 ... 54.3       1998-1999 ... 54.1
1992-1993 ... 53.5       1999-2000 ... 54.5
1993-1994 ... 54.0       2000-2001 ... 52.2
1994-1995 ... 55.5       2001-2002 ... 52.5
1995-1996 ... 55.4       2002-2003 ... 54.5
1996-1997 ... 53.2       2003-2004 ... 52.2
1997-1998 ... 50.9       2004-2005 ... 55.8

THE WINTER 2004-2005 SEASON...BACKED BY TWO CONSECUTIVE MONTHS OF
ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL (JAN/FEB)...BROKE A STRING ON SIX CONSECUTIVE
DRY WINTER SEASONS. THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT RECORDED 3.33 INCHES
WHICH RANKS AS THE 25TH WETTEST WINTER ON RECORD. RAINFALL AMOUNTS
ACROSS THE METRO AREA VARIED WIDELY WITH AMOUNTS ON THE VALLEY FLOOR
RANGING FROM TWO AND A HALF INCHES TO FIVE INCHES. THE SURROUNDING
MOUNTAINS RECORDED BETWEEN TEN AND FIFTEEN INCHES OF LIQUID
PRECIPITATION.

AVERAGE WINTER SEASON RAINFALL SINCE 1991...
1991-1992 ... 4.45"      1998-1999 ... 0.46"
1992-1993 ... 9.78"      1999-2000 ... 0.29"
1993-1994 ... 1.19"      2000-2001 ... 1.70"
1994-1995 ... 6.44"      2001-2002 ... 1.21"
1995-1996 ... 1.04"      2002-2003 ... 1.74"
1996-1997 ... 1.60"      2003-2004 ... 1.40"
1997-1998 ... 6.25"      2004-2005 ... 3.33"

...WINTER 2004-2005 STATS...        SEASON    NORMAL    DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE             65.3      65.8       - 0.5
AVERAGE LOW  TEMPERATURE             43.2      39.9       + 3.3
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE                  54.3      52.9       + 1.4
RAINFALL (AIRPORT)                   3.33"     2.90"     + 0.43"

2005 HAS STARTED OFF WARMER THAN NORMAL...BUOYED BY MUCH ABOVE
NORMAL DAILY LOW TEMPERATURES...AND RANKS AS THE 17TH WARMEST START
TO THE CALENDAR YEAR ON RECORD. THE AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE DURING
THE FIRST TWO MONTHS OF 2005 IS 44.7 DEGREES OR 4.5 DEGREES ABOVE
NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 4TH WARMEST ON RECORD. THE WET START TO THE
YEAR...WITH THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT RECORDING 2.62 INCHES...RANKS
AS THE 22ND WETTEST START TO THE CALENDAR YEAR.

...2005 STATS THRU FEB...            2005    NORMAL     DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE             65.5     66.3        - 0.8
AVERAGE LOW  TEMPERATURE             44.7     40.2        + 4.5
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE                  55.1     53.3        + 1.8
RAINFALL                             2.62"    1.87"      + 0.75"
WATER YEAR RAINFALL (OCT-FEB)        4.39"    4.78"      - 0.39"

...LOOKING AHEAD INTO MARCH AND THE SPRING SEASON...
THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER PREDICTS MARCH TO ABOVE NORMAL
TEMPERATURES AND SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL WHILE THE SPRING
SEASON WILL HAVE ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND NORMAL RAINFALL.

MARCH NORMALS AND RECORDS...
NORMAL HIGH TEMPERATURE .......... 73.3 DEGREES
NORMAL LOW TEMPERATURE............ 45.1 DEGREES
NORMAL MONTHLY TEMPERATURE ....... 59.2 DEGREES
RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE ..........   99 DEGREES ON MARCH 26 1988
RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE ...........   20 DEGREES ON MARCH  4 1965
WARMEST MARCH (AVG) .............. 65.0 DEGREES IN 1989 AND 1972
COLDEST MARCH (AVG) .............. 51.5 DEGREES IN 1973
NORMAL RAINFALL .................. 0.81 INCHES
WETTEST MARCH DAY ................ 1.42 INCHES ON MARCH 25 1903
WETTEST MARCH .................... 3.88 INCHES IN 1905
DRIEST MARCH ..................... ZERO INCHES IN 1984/1956/1933/1928
RECORD MARCH SNOWFALL ............  6.0 INCHES IN 1922

SPRING SEASON NORMALS AND RECORDS (MARCH THRU MAY)...
NORMAL HIGH TEMPERATURE ......... 81.7 DEGREES
NORMAL LOW TEMPERATURE .......... 51.4 DEGREES
NORMAL SEASONAL TEMPERATURE ..... 66.5 DEGREES
WARMEST SPRING (AVG) ............. 72.0 DEGREES IN 1989
COLDEST SPRING (AVG) ............. 59.0 DEGREES IN 1905
NORMAL SPRING RAINFALL ........... 1.33 INCHES
WETTEST SPRING ................... 7.43 INCHES IN 1905
DRIEST SPRING .................... 0.01 INCH   IN 1959

THE NUMBER OF DAYLIGHT HOURS WILL INCREASE FROM 11 HOURS 31 MINUTES
ON THE FIRST TO 12 HOURS 30 MINUTES ON THE 31ST...A 59 MINUTES. THE 
VERNAL EQUINOX...OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE BEGINNING OF SPRING...WILL
BEGIN ON MARCH 20TH AT 5:33 AM WHEN THE SUN CROSSES THE EQUATOR INTO 
THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE.

GLUECK