By James M. Arnold, Weather Specialist
It is perhaps a bit early to be summarizing the month of February 2015, but our weather looks to be quiet for the rest of the month, but continued very cold. Snowfall for the month stands at 49.9 inches here in Shrewsbury and I do not expect any more snow before the end of the month. Add to that the 38.5 inches that fell in the last week of January and we have a total of 88.4 inches of snow accumulating in Shrewsbury over the last 4.5 weeks. The cold has been just as or even more spectacular, as this month is not only on track to be the coldest February since weather records have been kept in Worcester (well over 100 years), but the coldest month ever for any month. I can attest to that as twice in the last few days the temperature has dropped to 14 degrees below zero here in Shrewsbury and there have been several other sub zero readings this month, including a 10 below zero reading about two weeks ago.
All our snow and cold has resulted in a growing number of roofs collapsing under the weight of the snow. There is another hazard present that deserves mention, and that is the large number of icicles hanging from most eaves. AccuWeather has highlighted this danger quite well in a piece on their website (AccuWeather.com) by Mark Leberfinger, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer. I have attached a short version of the article below. Here is a link to the full story:
http://www.accuweather.com/en/features/trend/the_danger_of_icicles_injuries/42813863
With the growing sun angle (we are less than a month away from the first day of Spring) there is the threat of icicles softening and falling despite low air temperatures. And when our temperatures do warm as they ultimately will, melting will cause icicles to fall. Care should be exercised to prevent injury/property damage from any falling ice.
Some melting will occur today before another arctic front passes through the area late today bringing a few more days of well below average temperatures, that should last into the weekend. There should be gradual warming over the coming weekend, and there are two storm threats in our future. The first one looks to be rather weak and late in the weekend and the second one, with more potential, should be about Tuesday of next week. Precipitation type is unclear now, but should become better defined as time goes on.
James M. Arnold is a Weather Specialist working with Shrewsbury Emergency Management Agency; town of Princeton; Worcester Emergency Communications and Emergency Management Agency; Southborough Emergency Management Agency; town of Grafton and Wachusett Mountain Ski Area