Weather statistics compiled at F.G. Doggett Water Plant in Mount Airy usually suggest some trend or common denominator when viewed as a whole, but the latest ones for March and February defy such comparisons.
February was an extremely wet month, with the precipitation output more than doubling the local average, while March was decidedly on the dry side.
In addition, February produced record-breaking heat along with bone-chilling cold, with March temperatures also all over the charts, punctuated by extremes at both ends of the scale, according to breakdowns from the water plant. It is the city’s official weather-monitoring station.
If any kind of pattern can derived from the stats, it could involve the fact that both February and March were warmer than usual overall, and probably resulted in lower heating costs compared to other recent winters.
The mercury averaged 41.6 degrees in Mount Airy during February, more than two degrees above the all-time local average for that month of 39.3. Weather records have been kept here since 1924.
A pair of 18-degree days was logged at the water plant in February, on Feb. 16 and 23, providing the low reading for the month.
Strangely, however, the monthly high of 73 was noted early on, Feb. 4, instead of later as one might expect. This broke the record for that date which had stood for 29 years, a 72-degree reading in 1991.
Then came March, which emerged neither as a lion nor a lamb but maybe a polar bear, with a tandem of 21-degree temperatures recorded for both March 1-2, the low for the month.
March closed out with a monthly high of 84 degrees on the 30th.
Precipitation up and down
A whopping 7.21 inches of precipitation was measured at the water plant during February, eclipsing the all-time average for that month in Mount Airy, 3.10 inches.
This included 3 inches for one day alone, Feb. 7, with measurable amounts occurring on 15 of February’s 29 days.
Included in that mix was a dusting of snow on the afternoon of Feb. 19, and another visit by the white stuff in the early morning hours of Feb. 29 which left 0.6 inches on the ground.
However, the wet trend did not continue into March, when 2.76 inches were recorded — well under the local average for the third month of the year, 4.25.
March did have measurable precipitation during 15 of its 31 days, but not in appreciable amounts, except for a .94-inch downpour logged for March 25 which was the maximum on a single day.
As of March 31, total annual precipitation stood at 14.08 inches in Mount Airy — 3.01 inches, or 27.2 percent, above normal for the three-month period (11.07 inches).
Fog was noted locally on eight days during March and frost on two, while February had six days each of fog and frost.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com