By DOUG SCHMITZ

Iowa Correspondent

ATLANTA, Ga. — Last month’s arctic blasts that pummeled significant portions of the Midwest and Northeast have ranked it as one of the coldest Februarys on record, according to The Weather Channel, as well as the nation’s university and state meteorologists.

“Last week, we saw an arctic blast that brought temperatures unexperienced in decades to some cities,” reported The Weather Channel’s Chrissy Warrilow and Chris Dolce on Feb. 28. “Another shot of bitter cold air arrived at the start of this week, breaking numerous daily record lows in the Midwest and Northeast.”

On Feb. 23, subzero temperatures were observed as far south as Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, Warrilow and Dolce said. “Lows in the 30s below zero were reported in a few spots in northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and northern Michigan, while teens and 20s below zero were quite common throughout those three states,” they said.

“The nation’s low (Feb. 23) was recorded at Clarksburg in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where the mercury hit 38 (Fahrenheit degrees) below zero.” In addition, February 2015 broke records across the Farm World region:

In his March 11 report concerning February, Jim Angel, Illinois state climatologist, analyzed the time series plots of the statewide average temperature for February and winter (December-February) from 1895 to present. In the first plot, he said, “The only other time that we had a pair of extremely cold Februarys was 1978 and 1979. All the other cold Februarys were one-off events.

“According to the National Climate Data Center (NCDC), the statewide average temperature for February 2015 in Illinois was 19.5 degrees and the ninth coldest on record. Last February was nearly identical at 19.4 degrees.”

Ken Scheeringa, Indiana associate state climatologist, said last month’s state average temperature was 18.9 degrees, “a whopping 11.5 degrees colder than normal.

“This ties 1905 as the fourth coldest February on record since 1895,” he said. “February 2015 is also the coldest February in Indiana since 1979, which holds second place with a 17.6 degrees average. The coldest February on record came a year earlier in 1978, with its 15.3 degrees temperature.

“The day split in February 2015 was lopsided, with 21 days of below-normal temperature, seven days above normal and no days at normal,” he added.

According to State Climatologist Harry Hillaker, Iowa temperatures in February averaged 14 or 10 degrees below normal, while precipitation totaled 1.14 or 0.09 inches above normal, ranking as the 10th coldest and 62nd wettest February in 143 years.

“Cold weather was the rule for most of the month, as temperatures averaged above normal only for the five days from the 6th through the 10th,” he said.

“The winter’s lowest temperatures occurred on the last two days of the month, with Stanley recording -30 degrees on the morning of the 27th and Elkader also falling to -30 degrees the next morning.”

According to the Kentucky National Weather Service (NWS) in West Paducah, the London, Ky., temperature fell to -17 degrees, besting their all-time February low of -11, low beyond Feb. 19 of -12 and almost hitting their all-time record low of -18.

“Minus 18 degrees was achieved in Lexington, smashing the daily record of zero; they had never been below minus 8 after Feb. 15,” the NWS report read. “The lowest temperature in the state was minus 32 at Richmond. The state record is only minus 37.”

The Ann Arbor News on March 1 cited University of Michigan Staff Meteorologist Dennis Kahlbaum saying February 2015 ranks as the third coldest in 135 years in university records, with the average temperature last month at 14.4 degrees.

“Since 1880, when recordkeeping began at University of Michigan, the city has only seen two colder February averages: February 1885, with 10.9 degrees, and February 1904, with 14.0 degrees,” he reported.

Pat Guinan, Missouri state climatologist, said in his March 5 report: “Old Man Winter returned with a vengeance in February, bringing arctic cold and significant snow to Missouri, with some of the coldest temperatures in more than 20 years reported over parts of southeastern Missouri in February.

“The preliminary data indicates a statewide average temperature of 26 degrees, nearly 8 degrees below the long-term average,” he said. “The month was slightly colder than February last year, and it was the coldest February since 1989.”

The NWS in Cleveland, Ohio, said last month ended with an average daily temperature of 14.3 degrees and surpasses the previous coldest February on record in 1875, with 15.2 degrees.

A total of seven record lows were set last month including on Feb. 15 (-5 degrees), Feb. 16 (-12), Feb. 17 (-8), Feb. 19 (-4), Feb. 20 (-17), Feb. 23 (-5) and Feb. 28 (-9). Feb. 20 was the coldest day this winter and just 3 degrees shy of the all-time coldest temperature in Cleveland of -20 on Jan. 19, 1994.

According to the NWS in Tennessee, the average temperature was 32.1 degrees, making it the third coldest February on record, WBIR reported on March 1: “The second coldest came in 1958 with an average of 31.9 degrees, and the coldest February was back in 1895, that saw an average of 30.5 degrees.”