February not only made us shiver, it’s gotten us all wet

Shows you how much that stupid groundhog knows ...

February is basically half over, winter’s still here, and already February 2019 has more than equaled the average precipitation for the month. And besides that, we’re closing in on one of the wettest Februaries on record, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). A far cry from an early spring.

Indianapolis rainfall totals already have boosted February 2019 into the fifth-wettest ever at more than six inches of rainfall.

However, according to totals gleaned from the Greencastle Middle School weather station, Greencastle has endured 4.43 inches of rainfall this month, nearly twice the monthly average (2.32 inches) for February.

For the year to date, Greencastle has received 7.18 inches of rainfall.

Local snowfall this month currently stands at 2.4 inches, the GMS site reports, which is considerably less than the normal February snowfall total of 6.5 inches.

The three wettest Februaries on record, according to the NWS, all occurred from 1881-1883. The year 1882 is the wettest ever at 7.28 inches, followed by 1883 with 7.19 inches and 1881 at 6.43. Rounding out the top five are two more 1800s entries -- 1893 in fourth at 6.16 and 1891 at 5.97.

Meanwhile, the snowiest February on record came in 2003 when 21.7 inches of snow were recorded during the month -- nearly the normal winter total for Indiana, which is 25.9 inches annually.

For this winter, central Indiana has recorded 0.4 inches of snow in November, 0.5 inches in December, 11.7 inches in January for the Indianapolis area (but only 8.7 inches for Greencastle) and 2.4 for February.

Average annual precipitation for central Indiana is 42.44 inches of rainfall.

And with temperatures reaching the 50s on Thursday, it’s a reminder that it’s only been two years ago that central Indiana enjoyed the warmest February on record with an average temperature of 43.3 degrees during 2017.