MOLINE, Ill. — An abnormally warm February in the Quad Cities has led to multiple weather records being shattered throughout the month.
Following Tuesday's rare February storm system that spawned an EF-1 tornado, the Quad Cities experienced the second greatest two-day temperature swing in history from Tuesday to Wednesday, when temperatures fell from a Tuesday high of 79 degrees to a chilly 14 degree low Wednesday morning. That 64 degree swing has only been bested by the the two-day stretch from Nov. 11-12 of 1911, when temperatures hit a high of 76 before falling to 9 degrees, an astounding 67 degree drop.
Daily record high temperatures in February 2024
So far this month, daily high temperature records have been broken for three dates.
- Feb. 8, 2024: 67 degrees
- The previous high of 63 degrees was set on Feb. 8, 1990.
- Feb. 26, 2024: 76 degrees
- The previous high of 64 degrees was set on Feb. 26, 1971.
- Feb. 27, 2024: 79 degrees
- The previous high of 71 degrees was set on Feb. 27, 1976.
February monthly records broken
The record for the warmest day in February history was broken on back-to-back days. The party started on Monday, Feb. 26, when the high of 76 degrees eclipsed the previous monthly record of 74 degrees set on Feb. 19, 2017. That record stool tall for all of one day, before Tuesday's staggering 79 degree high took the top spot.
Tuesday's high of 79 degrees is not only the warmest day in February history, but in meteorological winter history. The meteorological winter starts Dec. 1 and runs through the end of February. The previous record was 75 degrees, set on Dec. 15, 2021.
Warmest February ever
February 2024 is officially the warmest month in Quad Cities history, with an average temperature of 40.4 degrees, surpassing the previous record of 39.5 degrees set in 1882. News 8's Andrew Stutzke says that February 2024's average temperature of 40.4 degrees won't fall below 39.5 degrees by the end of the day Thursday.
Despite the aforementioned temperature shifts, temperatures are expected to return to the mid-70s by the weekend.
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