AFTER A MILD DECEMBER AND JANUARY...FEBRUARY SAW A PATTERN  
CHANGE...BECOMING COOLER AND MORE ACTIVE. SEVERAL STORM SYSTEMS  
CROSSED THE CENTRAL PLAINS RESULTING IN CLOUDY SKIES AND COOL  
TEMPERATURES. AFTER REACHING 60 DEGREES SEVERAL TIMES IN  
JANUARY...THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE REACHED IN FEBRUARY WAS 57  
DEGREES FOR BOTH NORTH PLATTE AND VALENTINE. FEBRUARY 28 SAW AN  
UNUSUALLY STRONG AND SPRING LIKE STORM SYSTEM...WHICH RESULTED IN  
NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ACROSS PORTIONS OF NORTHERN  
NEBRASKA...WHILE CENTRAL NEBRASKA SAW THUNDERSTORMS AND THE FIRST  
TORNADO REPORTED IN NEBRASKA DURING THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY IN  
RECORDED HISTORY.  
  
FOR NORTH PLATTE...THE AVERAGE DAILY MEAN TEMPERATURE FOR  
FEBRUARY WAS 28.3 DEGREES...WHICH WAS 0.7 DEGREES BELOW THE  
NORMAL OF 29.0 DEGREES. THE AVERAGE DAILY HIGH TEMPERATURE WAS  
41.4 DEGREES AND WAS 1.6 DEGREES BELOW THE NORMAL OF 43.0  
DEGREES. THE AVERAGE DAILY LOW TEMPERATURE WAS 15.1  
DEGREES...WHICH WAS 0.1 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 15.0 DEGREES.  
NO DAILY TEMPERATURES RECORD OCCURRED IN FEBRUARY.  
  
FOR VALENTINE...THE AVERAGE DAILY MEAN TEMPERATURE FOR FEBRUARY  
WAS 27.2 DEGREES...WHICH WAS EQUAL TO THE NORMAL OF 27.2 DEGREES.  
THE AVERAGE DAILY MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 41.2  
DEGREES WHICH WAS 1.2 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 40.0 DEGREES.  
THE AVERAGE DAILY MINIMUM TEMPERATURE WAS 13.3 DEGREES WHICH WAS  
1.1 DEGREES BELOW THE NORMAL OF 14.4 DEGREES. NO DAILY  
TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE SET IN FEBRUARY.  
  
PRECIPITATION IN FEBRUARY FOR NORTH PLATTE TOTALED 1.23 INCHES AT  
LEE BIRD FIELD...WHICH WAS 0.73 INCHES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 0.50  
INCHES. THE TOTAL OF 1.23 INCHES RANKS AS THE FOURTEENTH WETTEST  
FEBRUARY ON RECORD...THE WETTEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD WAS 1.98 IN  
1978. SNOWFALL FOR NORTH PLATTE TOTALED 8.9 INCHES AND WAS 3.6  
INCHES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 5.3 INCHES. ONE PRECIPITATION RECORD  
WAS SET AT NORTH PLATTE. ON THE THIRD A TOTAL OF 0.87 INCHES WAS  
RECORDED...BREAKING THE 1960 RECORD OF 0.63 INCHES.  
  
VALENTINE PRECIPITATION TOTALED 2.27 AT MILLER FIELD FOR THE  
MONTH OF FEBRUARY AND WAS A WHOPPING 1.79 INCHES ABOVE THE NORMAL  
0.48 INCHES. THIS ALSO SHATTERED THE RECORD FOR WETTEST FEBRUARY  
ON RECORD. THE PREVIOUS WETTEST FEBRUARY OCCURRED IN 1944 WITH  
1.84 INCHES. SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH TOTALED 11.0 INCHES...WHICH  
WAS 5.4 INCHES ABOVE THE NORMAL 5.6 INCHES. TWO PRECIPITATION  
RECORDS AND ONE SNOWFALL RECORD WERE BROKEN DURING THE MONTH. ON  
FEBRUARY 28 PRECIPITATION TOTALED 0.83 INCHES AND SNOWFALL  
TOTALED 5.0 INCHES...BREAKING THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 0.19 INCHES  
AND 3.7 INCHES RESPECTIVELY SET IN 1927. THE RARE FEBRUARY 29  
RECORDED 0.72 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION...WHICH BROKEN THE 2004  
RECORD OF 0.65 INCHES.  
  
           NORTH PLATTE SUMMARY           VALENTINE SUMMARY  
         | FEB 12 | NORM | DIFF  |    | FEB 12 | NORM | DIFF  |  
AVG TEMP |  28.3  | 29.0 | -0.7  |    |  27.2  | 27.2 |  0.0  |  
AVG HIGH |  41.4  | 43.0 | -1.6  |    |  41.2  | 40.0 |  1.2  |  
AVG LOW  |  15.1  | 15.0 |  0.1  |    |  13.3  | 14.4 | -1.1  |  
PRECIP   |  1.23  | 0.50 |  0.73 |    |  2.27  | 0.48 |  1.79 |  
SNOW     |   8.9  |  5.3 |  3.6  |    |  11.0  |  5.6 |  5.4  |  
  
THE 30 DAY OUTLOOK FROM THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER FOR MARCH  
CALLS FOR ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND EQUAL CHANCES OF  
ABOVE...BELOW OR NEAR NORMAL PRECIPITATION.  
  
...NORTH PLATTE AND VALENTINE PRECIPITATION TOTALS FOR THE PAST 12  
MONTHS...  
  
                        PRECIPITATION             DEPARTURE  
  
                        LBF       VTN           LBF       VTN  
  
MONTH  
  
MARCH 2011              0.90      1.42         -0.34      0.31  
APRIL 2011              2.19      1.89          0.22     -0.08  
MAY 2011                5.69      3.87          2.35      0.67  
JUNE 2011               4.17      3.56          1.00      0.55  
JULY 2011               3.45      3.08          0.28     -0.29  
AUGUST 2011             1.99      3.12         -0.30      0.94  
SEPTEMBER 2011          0.98      1.09         -0.43     -0.55  
OCTOBER 2011            2.17      1.71          0.62      0.46  
NOVEMBER 2011           0.13      0.44         -0.51     -0.21  
DECEMBER 2011           0.32      0.20         -0.09     -0.17  
  
JANUARY 2012            0.12      0.19         -0.22     -0.07  
FEBRUARY 2012           1.23      2.27          0.73      1.79  
  
TOTALS                 23.34     22.84          3.31      3.35