Results in: February was really cold in Wichita and Kansas. Here it is by the numbers.
Data released this week by the National Weather Service put numerical values on what all Kansans felt in their bones — February was really cold.
Six records were set in February at the Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport. Two records came each day between Feb. 14-16, with minus 17 degrees recorded on Feb. 16 being the lowest temperature in the history of that day and tying the fourth-coldest temperature ever recorded in Wichita. The record is based on data dating back to the late 1800s.
The minus 17 degrees was 86 degrees lower than the highest temperature measured in February, which was 69 degrees on Feb. 23 — six days after the lowest temperature of the month.
The lowest temperature recorded across the state was minus 29 degrees measured in Washington County.
Here’s what else was recorded at the Wichita airport:
Monthly average temperature was 26 degrees, 11.2 degrees below normal.
Sixth coldest February since official records began in 1889, coldest since 1979.
Monthly precipitation was 0.30 inches, 0.88 inches below normal.
27th driest February on record, driest since 2018.
Monthly snowfall of 5.7 inches, 2.5 inches above normal.
34th snowiest February on record, snowiest since 2015.
The Wichita area saw a wide range of snowfall in different parts of Sedgwick County. The northeast saw the least, with at least 4.4 inches, the data shows. The northwest corner saw more than 5.8 inches and near the southeast corner, there were more than 8.8 inches of snow. An area along southeast Sedgwick County and northeast Sumner County registered more than 12 inches, the data shows.
An area in southeast Kansas saw the most snowfall in Kansas, with 12.7 inches.
The weather service’s “February 2021 Climate Summary and Highlights” also ranked the month’s average temperatures in a Kansas broken down into nine regions.
The region that included Sedgwick County had its fourth-coldest February, according to records going back to 1893. The February in each region was within the top 6 coldest.
This story was originally published March 3, 2021 at 5:00 AM.