February 2017 Weather Outlooks

9 years ago

Here's the latest February 2017 temperature outlook:

And here's the latest February 2017 precipitation outlook:

If you're looking at these and thinking the odds are high that February will be warmer than usual and drier than usual, then you're interpreting the maps correctly. This doesn't mean there won't be rain and it doesn't mean we won't have cold weather----it just means we probably won't have as much of either of those conditions as we do in the average February.

With all the warmer-than-average and drier-than-average weather we've had the last few winters, it is becoming easier and easier to think of warmer-than-average and drier-than-average almost becoming the new normal.

In order to garden successfully in these conditions, we have to be sure to give the plants the extra help they need, which includes well-amended soil that will hold moisture better, mulch to help keep the soil cooler before the real heat arrives, and adequate moisture via irrigation when rain fails to fall in the amounts the plants need.

Be careful not to put down too much mulch around warm-season plants too early because you don't want to mulch so heavily early in the season that the ground cannot warm up enough for the warm-season plants.

Maybe its just me (and maybe my viewpoint is skewed because down here we were 78 degrees yesterday and we had a 79 degree day a few days ago) but February is starting to look like the new March or April. That seems fitting since most of January felt like February or March.

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Comments (2)

Turbo Cat (7a)
9 years ago
Dawn, I think you may be right that February may be the new March or April. As awful as it sounds, I had to turn on the a/c last night because the house had creeped up into the low 70's, and I can't sleep that warm. Once the house had cooled back down to 68, I turned the whole system off. I don't use much heat. I like it cool to downright cold no matter if it is winter or summer. I'm a walking furnace. But it is still sad that I turned on the a/c on January 31.
Okiedawn OK Zone 7
Original Author
9 years ago
Mary, I've had the AC on several times in January. We hit the lower to upper 70s several times in January and the house seems to heat up fast. I'd rather run the AC a little than be hot. On the other hand, the furnace certainly has not been overworked this winter. It is sad that we're using the AC in January and February, which used to be simply unthinkable, but with the weather we're getting....well, it is what it is.

I don't like for it to be this warm in January/February. While it feels great, it also makes fruit trees bloom too early, and can be a sign (though not always) that a rough spring/summer lie ahead. Our cool-season is so short already that I hate to lose any portion of it to hotter temperatures.

Dawn
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