That February Heat Wave Was Widespread. U.S./Canada (Sort Of) Re-Entering Winter Again, Though.

Map from earlier this month shows temperatures far, far
above normal in much of Canada and the much of
the northern United States.

 It wasn't just Vermont that enjoyed a taste of spring last week and over the weekend. 

Huge swaths of the United States and southern Canada enjoyed weather typical of April. And most of the heat was in the northern tier of states, which should have been shivering in February. 

Some northern areas were as much as 40 degrees warmer than average. Places that should be buried in snow had bare ground. 

The epicenter of the heat seems to be the Northern Plains, western Great Lakes and parts of south-central Canada. 

The Minneapolis Star Tribune is calling this "the alleged winter of 2023-24" as the city enjoyed record highs in the 50s last week. 

Each day from January 22 through yesterday has gotten above freezing in Minneapolis. The city has had no measurable snow on the ground since January 21, and there's never been more than an inch of snow on the ground in Minneapolis so far this entire winter. 

Each of the first nine days of February in the "nation's icebox," International Falls at the northern tip of Minnesota, got to 32 degrees or warmer. 

The first ten days of February in Fargo, North Dakota were an incredible 25 degrees warmer than normal.  The coldest it got in Fargo on those 10 days was 21 above zero. Normal lows there this time of year are close to 0, with record lows in the 30s below zero. 

The first eight days of February in Fargo had no snow on the ground. I'm glad they didn't try to film that famous Coen brother movie this year. 

Sioux Falls, South Dakota was close behind, being 20 degrees warmer than normal, with four of those days going over 50 degrees.  

It was so warm in the Upper Midwest that Wisconsin last Thursday recorded its first February tornado on record. Tornadoes require warm, humid air to survive.  Other twisters  reportedly touched down in northern Illinois.  

A forecast issued by the Farmers Almanac last fall.
Ooopsie.  Except for the fact it has neither been 
cold nor snowy in New England and much of the 
northern U.S. this winter, the forecast is, um spot on?

The Wisconsin tornado was pretty strong, too, destroying three homes and damaging nearly 30 others. 

Just ahead of the severe weather, record highs included 66 at Cedar Rapids, Iowa and 59 at both Rockford, Illinois and La Cross Wisconsin. 

Canada has been uncharacteristically warm, too.  In normally frigid Saskatchewan, bees were reported coming out of hibernation it was so toasty. 

In what used to be reliably Arctic far northern Ontario and Manitoba, ice roads thawed, prompting states of emergency up there.

The ice roads are compacted snow and ice atop frozen ground lakes and rivers that become essential in the winter for delivery of fuel, equipment construction supplies and non-perishable goods.  The ice roads get the goods to places that are inaccessible in the summer. 

 Further south in Canada, Toronto last Friday reached 59 degrees, breaking the record high for the date of 51 degrees.  Ottawa also reported record highs.

In Quebec City, the famed winter carnival ice palace had to close early because of the thawing. The also famous Rideau Canal Skateway, which is essentially the world's largest skating rink (only 15 yards wide but 5 miles long) , was forced to close after being open for just four days. Last winter, also mild, it never opened

Canada has honestly been up to its old tricks in February. Last year was the nation's hottest on record.

In the short term, it has turned cooler across much of the northern United Stats and Canada at least for now. While temperatures in most northern places are closer to normal, there's still really not much extreme cold to be found. 

Temperatures are forecast to be somewhat colder than normal in the northern tier of the United States and southern Canada at least into late February, but the chill does not look like it will be anything out of the ordinary. And there are signs at least somewhat warmer than normal temperatures might return to the Plains and Great Lakes toward the end of the month.