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Winnipeg’s cold and snowy February takes its place in the record books

Dauphin, Manitoba. Harli Sloboda/submitted

From frigid temperatures to piles of precipitation, we saw it all over the past month.

Typically we don’t associate lot of snow with the coldest conditions, but that’s what Winnipeg and southern Manitoba experienced throughout February.

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In regards to snowfall amounts, this month Winnipeg saw more than three times what is normal.

February is typically the driest month of the year in the city. Not this time.

The biggest snow storm came on Feb. 3 with 10 centimetres falling in the city. By Feb. 28, that total was up to 38.4 cm and ranks 11th on record,  just 0.2 cm behind 1893 with 38.6 cm.

As noted above, temperatures were also well below normal. Throughout the month, Winnipeg only had six days where the temperatures were above -10 Celsius.

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February 2019 finished with a daily mean average temperature of -19.9 C which ties 1889 as the 23rd coldest February on record.

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It you are wondering, the coldest February — the first on record — was in 1875, when the daily mean temperature was -26.1 C.

The most snow ever in the month of February came in 1881 with 89.9 cm.

With the impressive statistics for high snowfall amounts and cold temperatures, there are only a few other years where February has scored high on both.

Of the top 10 snowiest Februarys, 1910 comes closest to this month with snow totaling 39.6 cm and a daily mean average temperature of -18.5 C.
1962 and 1893 were also impressive in these categories with 1962 registering 50 cm (4th on record) of snow and an average temperature of -19.6 C (24th on record).  In 1893, snow totaled 38.6 cm (10th on record) and the daily mean temperature was -22.6 (8th on record).

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As March begins, the forecast looks to remain cooler than normal.

This is a common pattern across most of the country. The long range forecast from Environment and Climate Change Canada paints a brisk picture for most of the population in Canada.

8-14 day temperature outlook from Feb. 27, 2019. Environment and Climate Change Canada

Spring officially begins Wednesday March 20, so hopefully the temperatures will start to match up the seasonal norms by then.

WATCH: 2019 Canada wide Spring Forecast

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2019 Canada wide Spring Forecast

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