Chicago headed toward record warm and snowless February

FOX 32 NEWS - It is very possible that by months end, this will have been the least snowy and warmest February on record for Chicago.

Half way through the month, Chicago is averaging a temperature of 30.8 F, which is 5.2 F above the long term average of 27.7 F.

It is also warmer than last February, which you may recall was under the influence of a warm El Nino weather pattern. February of 2017 is currently in 35th place for warmest on record. However, we are staring at the next 10 days chock full of 50s and 60s, which will likely propel this month to the top ten and possibly the number 1 spot.

Some of the daily high temperature records for the holiday weekend ahead could fall.

Record high on Friday February 17th is 60 set in 1880
Record high on Saturday February 18th is 62 set in 1981
Record high on Sunday February 19th is 65 set in 1930
Record high on Monday February 20th is 64 set in 1930

Weather records have been kept in Chicago since 1873 and to put things in perspective, the coldest February  was 14.6 F just 2 years ago in 2015 and also in 1875. The warmest February was 39.0F in 1882.

The other big story this month is the lack of snow. We are currently tied for least snowiest on record with 1987 and 1998. February averages 9.1 inches of snow, but only a trace has fallen this month. Talk about going from feast to famine; just 2 years ago in February of 2015 Chicago saw 26.8 inches of snow, which was the 3rd snowiest on record and the snowiest February on record was 2011 with 29.0 inches.

This winter we have only recorded 18.3 inches of snow, which is well short of the yearly average of 36.3 inches. The last time we received a snowfall of 1 inch or more was on December 17th, 2016. We recorded 17.7 inches in December 2016 and 0.6 in January with only a trace this month.