February's average high temperature above 0

February is often the hardest month of the winter on P.E.I., but this year it was warmer, wetter, and had a lot less snow than usual.

The average daily high, as measured at Charlottetown Airport, was above the freezing mark at 0.7 C, which was 3.6 C above normal. There was only one day where the temperature failed to reach –10 C.

"February is typically our second coldest month here on P.E.I., but this year it almost feels as if March arrived a month early," said CBC meteorologist Jay Scotland.

"Our mean temperature was far closer to that of March than February."

There was a little more precipitation than usual, but most of it fell as rain. Snowfall for the month was less than half the average.

The month started with 17 centimetres of snow on the ground, but that melted away in the first couple of days. By Feb. 3 there was just two centimetres on the ground and there was never more than eight for the rest of the month.

"This warmer than normal trend looks to continue well into March with the latest guidance showing daytime highs either reaching or exceeding the freezing mark though the first 10 days of March," Scotland said.

"That doesn't mean P.E.I. will get a complete pass on wintry weather. Historically March has seen some very impressive winter storms."

The February temperatures came close to the extremes of October, when the average daily high was 3.8 C above normal.

February achieved a high average temperature in less dramatic fashion with less extreme cold and no daily temperature records broken.

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