Pennsylvania Weather Review: February 2026
Pennsylvania Weather Review: February 2026
Winter set in during January and continued into February. There was plenty of cold temperatures and snow during the second month of 2026. Take a look back at the busy month of February 2026.
February Highlights
The month started where January left off: cold. With the snow pack locked in place, temperatures remained below average through the first 9 or 10 days statewide. Temperatures in the single digits and sub zero were observed somewhere in the state on each of the first 9 days of the month.
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| Departure from average temperatures for February 1-9, 2026. Source. |
Light snow and a bit of freezing rain on the morning of the 6th caused some tricky travel. The slippery conditions caused a pile up on I-79 that closed the road for hours and killed one person. Later in the day snow squalls moved from north to south in western Pennsylvania. Thundersnow was observed in Pittsburgh.
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| Wind chill temperatures from 8am on February 7, 2026. Source. |
Some of the coldest windchills of the season were observed on the 7th with high temperatures in the single digits. Extreme Cold Warnings were in effect for nearly all of Pennsylvania with windchills of -20° to -35° in the morning and remained below zero all day. The coldest low temperatures of the month were recorded on the 9th with temperatures dropping below -10° for portions of northern and western Pennsylvania. One COOP site near Bradford dropped to -27° that morning. After weeks of cold temperatures, a break in the pattern was finally coming.
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| Low temperatures on the morning of February 9, 2026 (left) with high temperatures on February 10, 2026 (right). Source. |
Low temperatures on the morning of the 10th were nearly 40° warmer compared to 24 hours before. High temperatures reached the mid 50s, making for some impressive temperature rises. Both Indiana and New Castle rose 65° in 36 hours! For many locations in western Pennsylvania this was the largest 28-36 hour temperature rises on record (some locations have short periods of record).
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| Summary of the impressive temperature rises from February 9-10, 2026. |
The warmup on the 10th also brought an end to the streaks of 9 to 26 days with temperatures at or below 32°. 17 days <=32° in Allentown tied for 2nd longest on record just 1 day short of the record. Williamsport spent 18 days <=32°, tied for the 4th longest on record & longest since 1980!
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| Summary of consecutive days below 32° January-February 2026 compared to other streaks. |
The warmup brought melting snow and foggy mornings. Philadelphia recorded 16 days with a snow depth of 5"+ ending on the 10th. This was the 3rd longest such streak and longest since 1961!
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| Summary of some sites in Pennsylvania with impressive snow packs that lasted over 2 weeks in January-February 2026. |
Through the first half of the month, many locations failed to record more than a tenth of a inch of precipitation. It was a top 10 driest first half of February on record for nearly the entire state. Altoona did not record measurable precipitation for 20 straight days (January 26 through February 14). This is tied for the 5th longest such stretch on record. Drought conditions continued to worsen (see drought summary at the bottom) but some relief would finally come.
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| Summary of precipitation for the first half of February. |
A quick hitting system brought light rain to southern Pennsylvania on the 15th into the 16th with up to 4 tenths of an inch falling. The precipitation ended as some snow in eastern Pennsylvania where up to 2 inches fell. Another system brought more appreciable rainfall totals on the 19th-20th. Much of southern Pennsylvania picked up over half an inch of rain with over an inch falling in many spots. Pittsburgh recorded 1.46" on the 20th breaking the daily record of 0.86" set in 2019. Plenty of lightning was also observed in the Pittsburgh area during the early morning hours of the 20th.
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| 48 hour precipitation totals ending 7am on February 21, 2026. Source. |
With the prolonged cold temperatures, the rainfall brought the fear of ice jams on the rivers & streams. Most ice dissipated without issue, but the Allegheny River, which is more prone to ice jams, did see significant ice dams on the 20th and 21st. A crest of 21.69' at Parker was the highest crest there since 2015. The Swatara Creek in Middletown also rose above minor flood stage on the 23rd due to ice dams.
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| River gauge graph showing the rise of water levels on the Allegheny River in Parker on February 20, 2026 followed by a sudden drop in levels once the ice jam broke. Source. |
In what had already been a snowy winter in eastern Pennsylvania, a blizzard brought more snow on the 22nd in to 23rd as the heaviest snow grazed extreme southeast Pennsylvania. While much of the state measured 2" to 6" from this event, up to 22" fell in Bucks County. Residual snow showers continued especially in the snow belts of Pennsylvania.
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| 72 hour total snowfall ending 12z on February 25, 2026. Source. |
Following the snowstorm, the last remaining days of February were mostly calm and quiet with warming temperatures and melting snow. Temperatures touched the 50s on the 25th in southwest Pennsylvania and more widespread 50s arrived on the 27th. The snowpack was slowest to melt in northeast Pennsylvania were the depths were deeper and temperatures remained cooler. With the exception of northwest Pennsylvania, the highest temperatures of 2026 to date arrived on the final day of February with many locations warming into the low 60s.
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| Left: Map of high temperatures observed ending at 12z on March 1st, 2026 Source. Right: Chart summarizing the warmest days of 2026 through February 27th compared to the high temperatures observed on February 28th. |
February Statistics
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| Summary of temperature and precipitation compared to average for February 2026. |
February 2026 was colder than average statewide with departures of 1.0° below average in southwest and south central PA to nearly 5.0° below average in parts of eastern PA. February was very dry with departures of over an inch for much of the state.
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| Summary of temperature and precipitation compared to average for Winter 2025-2026. |
Winter 2025-2026 featured impressive cold temperatures with departures of more than 3.5° below average statewide! Dryness continued with departures of over 2.00 inches with the exception of Philadelphia.
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| Charts comparing the temperature to the last time winter was colder than winter 2025-2026 (left) and the last time winter was as dry as winter 2025-2026 (right). |
Winter 2025-2026 was the coldest since 2014-2015 for nearly all of Pennsylvania except for Allentown where you have to go back 1 more year. This was also the driest winter since 2001-2002 for much of the state when one of the worst droughts in recent record impacted the state. It was the driest winter in Bradford since 1999-2000.
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| Seasonal snowfall departure through March 1st. Source. |
Snowfall across western & eastern Pennsylvania remains above average with the exception of central Pennsylvania, especially south. Philadelphia recorded the snowiest February and snowiest winter since 2014. 14.0" there on February 22-23 is the 10th largest 2-day February total on record and largest since 2010. Season to date Philadelphia has recorded a total of 30.1" of snow which is 7.0" above the average for the entire season. Allentown has also secured a snowier than average winter with 35.5" (+2.6").
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| Drought Monitor as of February 24, 2026. Source. |
Drought conditions have continued to worsen. Just about half of the state is classified under Moderate or Severe Drought. This is something that we have been watching for a while and will continue to watch as we head into spring. Some good news is that the near future looks to bring numerous chances for precipitation.
Webcam Image of the Month
The stream cam in Rouseville overlooking Oil Creek captured an ice dam on February 20th. Check out an animation of this event that I posted over on Bluesky.
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| Stream cam image from Oil Creek in Rouseville at 6pm on February 20, 2026. Source. |
Wrapping Up & Looking Ahead
It has been a long and eventful winter. As we head into spring we are approaching an anniversary of one of the worst floods in Pennsylvania history. Stay tuned for a new post reviewing that event later in March.
As always, remember to look up!
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