Weather service says February was cold

If you thought February was cold and snowy, you were right. The National Weather in Missoula said that February was the snowiest ever in Kalispell, with 33.2 inches of snow at the Glacier Park International Airport.

It was cold, but not record cold. Feb. 27 saw the mercury drop to 11 below zero, but in 1960, it was 19 below zero. The coldest ever recorded in February was 36 below on Feb. 1, 1950.

Still, overall it was the second coldest February on record for Kalispell, with an average of 12.6 degrees. The record was set in 1936 with an average of 4.9 degrees.

Polebridge saw some very cold temperatures in the past few days. On March 3 it dropped down to 38 below zero. On March 4 it was 31 below zero. East of the divide, St. Mary dropped down to 36 below zero March 3.

The average snowfall for February is 7.9 inches. The February snowfall brought the Kalispell total for the season to 59.8 inches. The normal amount is 47.3.

The Flathead River Basin snowpack, however, still lags behind a normal year at 90 percent of average, as December and January saw well below average snowfall.

This week temperatures should moderate a bit, with highs in the 30s and a chance of snow through at least Saturday.