Data Snapshots: February 2014 Average Temperature

In Brief

This map shows average temperature for February 2014. Monthly average temperatures below 50° Fahrenheit are shades of blue; the darker the shade of blue, the lower the average temperature. Areas where average temperatures were above 50°F are shaded orange to red; the darker the shade of red, the higher the temperature. White or very light areas had average temperatures near 50°F.

Northern states from Montana to Maine remained in winter's icy grip with average temperatures below or near 20°F. One climate division in northeast North Dakota had a monthly average of just 0.3°F. At the same time, southern states from California to Florida began seeing signs of spring with average temperatures over 40°F. The climate division at the southern tip of Florida had an average of almost 75°F. Historical rankings of statewide average temperatures further documented the contrast between north and south: Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin all had average temperatures that fell within their ten coldest Februarys on record. Arizona, California, and Utah each had February temperatures that ranked among their ten warmest.

More info

This map is based on data compiled and processed by the National Climatic Data Center. As of March 13, averages for each of the 344 climate divisions in the contiguous United States come from an improved version of the climate division dataset. The new methodology now accounts for distribution of stations and terrain in each climate division as factors in calculating average temperatures and precipitation totals. To learn more about these improvements, see Transitioning to a Gridded Climate Divisional Dataset.