Climate Prediction Center Has North Dakota Shivering In February

January gave North Dakota a break from its shovels, snowblowers, and snowplows.  That could be about to change.

The Climate Prediction Center has released its February Forecast.

First, let's look at their temperature forecast.

January was about average for North Dakota as far as temperatures go with no real arctic air outbreaks.  This is somewhat unusual since January is typically the coldest month of the year.  The wind was also absent for a good share of the month which is also not typical.  Because of that, we saw a lot of fog and slippery roads in January.

As you can see by this map from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center that is all about to change in February.  It looks like the deep freeze may be returning as soon as this weekend and linger well into February.

North Dakota has a 40 to 50% chance of below-average temperatures for the month of February.  That means more than likely some bone-chilling below-zero kind of days are still yet to come this winter.  Much like what we had towards the end of December of 2022.

Now, let's look at the Climate Prediction Center Precipitation forecast for February. 

We saw very little snow in January after a very snowy, November and December where each month saw over 20 inches of snow.  It looks like we could be headed back to a more active precipitation pattern in the month of February.  In fact, that pattern will actually start late this week with several chances for snow.  Here's a look at the Climate Prediction Center's February precipitation forecast.

As you can see by this map, North Dakota has a 33 to 40% chance for above-normal precipitation for the month of February.

Expect bad news from the Groundhog next week.  You've been warned.