PENNSYLVANIA, USA — The warmest day of the month was on Wednesday, February 15. It was 67 degrees that day in Scranton, just one degree shy of breaking the record of 68 degrees set in 1954.
It was 72 degrees in Williamsport on February 15, which did break the record.
The coldest temperatures recorded this month were on the morning of the 4th. The low that morning in Scranton was 1 below — the coldest temperature recorded this winter season. The low in Williamsport that morning was 4 degrees.
Despite that cold first weekend of February, most of the rest of the month ended up being quite a bit above average. Because of that, 2023 will be one of the warmest Februarys ever on record for both northeastern and central Pennsylvania. Scranton will come in at number 2, and Williamsport will come in at number 3.
And while many folks waited for an actual winter all February long, Mother Nature finally listened on the last day of the month. After being on track to be one of the least snowy Februarys on record, the WNEP backyard picked up 2 inches of snow before midnight Monday night and then another .7 after midnight Tuesday morning. With a total of 3.4" inches of snow for the entire month of February in the WNEP backyard, it will rank as number 16 for least snowy on record. We actually had even less snow last February, with only 2.6" inches for the month. But the one before that, 2021, still stands at number 2 for snowiest Februarys on record, with 28.3" of snow that year.
The Climate Prediction Center is forecasting colder-than-average temperatures for much of mid to late March here in Pennsylvania. And after such a mild winter so far, meteorologists with the National Weather Service warn there is a risk to vegetation that starts to bud earlier than normal if those colder temperatures pan out.