First Alert Weather In-Depth: How frequent in February?

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The January thaw has lasted into early February and with it is coming an early taste of Spring.

Highs the next couple of days will be in the 50s, with an outside chance to hit 60 degrees on Friday. Yesterday (Wednesday), Glenn talked about our record high potential and he mentioned that although we will be unseasonably warm we are not expected to break any records. Our best chance to break or tie a record will be in Friday, with a forecasted high of 58 with a record of 62.

Building off of what Glenn talked about Wednesday, just how often is it to see warmth this high in the month of February?

For starters, we have had three days this month in which our afternoon high has reached 40 degrees or warmer, and when you count today (Thursday) it will be our fourth. On average in Rochester, we get about seven days in which we hit the 40 degree mark in the second month of the year, with the most 40 degree days coming in 1976 with 18. Now, what about 50 degrees? On average we get about two days in which we hit 50 degrees in February. The most was in 1976 with 12 days.

There is an outside chance to hit 60 degrees Friday afternoon. So how often does that happen? Typically we hit the 60 degree mark in February once every other year. The most came in 2017 in which five days hit/surpassed that mark. With this said, the stretch which lingers through Saturday is unseasonably warm, but definitely not unheard of in this month.

Just like Glenn mentioned, enjoy this milder weather because we are back to colder weather next week!