2021 marks 4th snowiest February in 128 years

Snowfall for this February will go in the record books for Poplar Bluff.
Granted, it wasn’t THE record, but it was still significant.
The amount of winter precipitation we got between Feb. 14-20 gives us the fourth snowiest February on record, according to data kept by the National Weather Service and the Western Regional Climate Center.
It’s not quite as exciting as setting a new record.
But having one of the top five, in 128 years of record-keeping, is something to take note of.
We saw 11 inches of snow between Feb. 15-18 at the Poplar Bluff reporting station for the NWS.
The top three were 13.5” (1980), 12.0” (1939) and 11.2” (1929), according to Sean Poulos, a climate program leader with the NWS, who looked up the data.
So for those of you who didn’t enjoy the briefly snowy landscape, it could have been worse.
We didn’t break the single day snowfall record either.
Butler County Emergency Management Agency Director Robbie Myers reported 5 inches fell Feb. 15 in Poplar Bluff, said NWS meteorologist Rick Shanklin.
The snowiest February calendar day was 9.5-inches on Feb. 8, 1980, Poulos shared. The record for daily snowfall was 20-inches, set on Jan. 17, 1978.
It’s been over a century since we saw our snowiest cold season on record.
In 1917-1918, Poplar Bluff saw 47.7 inches, which is hard to imagine. That was between October and April, Poulos said.
Our snowfall had to do with upper level patterns and a polar vortex, Shanklin said.
Polar vortex isn’t a new phenomena, he said, although it’s gotten more public attention in recent years.
An Arctic air mass from the north became firmly entrenched in our area, while a low pressure system from the south pulled moisture into the area.
“Unless you have a major power shift, it’s hard to scour out that really cold, dense air,” Shanklin said.
It’s not unusual to get locked into a pattern for weather, he said. That doesn’t just apply to winter, but could also be flooding or another type of system, he said.
“Normal weather is made up of a lot of extremes for us,” Shanklin explained. “We’ve gone a couple of years with virtually no snow.
“That’s where the normals come from, (the highs and lows).”
Whatever your feelings on snow are, I’m glad we got to see the fourth snowiest February on Poplar Bluff’s books.
When you think about how rare those days are ­­-- four out of 128, or just a handful of days out of 45,500 days -- it seems like we should make the most of it when we can.
Donna Farley is editor of the Daily American Republic and can be reached at dfarley.dar@gmail.com .