Bend’s nearly 4 feet of Feb. snow smashes century-old record

Bend officially received nearly 46 inches of snow in February, nearly doubling the more than century-old record for the month, the National Weather Service in Pendleton reported Monday.

Snowfall totaled 45.8 inches, with at least an inch of snow reported on eight days. The heaviest snowfall was 12.5 inches, reported on the 25th.

Bend’s previous February snowfall record was 23.3 inches, set just over a century ago, in 1917.

It was also the third-coldest February on record for Bend. The coldest was 22.5 degrees in 1989. And it was the second-wettest February on record. The wettest was 4.50 inches in 1927.

Bend’s average temperature last month was 27 degrees, which was 7.2 degrees below normal. High tmperatures averaged 36.2 degrees, which was 8.1 degrees below normal. The highest temperatures was 61 degrees on Feb. 1.

Low temperatures averaged 17.9 degrees, which was 6.3 degrees below normal. The lowest was 1 degree, on the 11th.

There were 27 of 28 days with the low dropping below freezing and six days when the high also stayed below 32 degrees.

Bend’s precipitation totaled 4.48 inches during February, which was 3.39 inches above normal. Measurable precipitation – at least .01 inch – was received on 16 days, with the heaviest, 1.35 inches, reported on the 25th.

Precipitation this year has reached 5.61 inches, which is nearly 3 inches above normal. Since October, the water year precipitation at Bend has been 8.15 inches, which is 1.34 inches above normal.

The Bend outlook for March from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center calls for below-normal temperatures and near normal precipitation. Normal highs for Bend rise from 48.0 degrees at the start of March to 54.0 degrees at the end of the month. Normal lows rise from 25.0 degrees to 29.0 degrees. The-30 year normal precipitation is 0.73 inches.

Prineville data from NWS also showed a much colder than normal month, with an average temperature of 30 degrees, 7.3 degrees below normal, and an average high of 39 degrees, nearly 9 degrees below normal.

Prineville got 27.5 inches of snow during the month, which smashed and more than doubled its old February snowfall record of 12.9 inches, set in 1938.