Tabulating All That Cold

       “The weather for our past month of February has given this weather observer and recorder a very uneasy time,” Richard G. Hendrickson, a United States Cooperative weather observer, wrote from Bridgehampton.

       One reason for that, he said, was the high temperatures during the daytime and the very low temperatures at night. “High temperatures during the daytime varied greatly, from above 32 degrees on 18 days to highs in the 50s,” he wrote. “It was 40 or higher on 10 days, with a high of 53 degrees on the 21st.” At night, lows ranged from 32 degrees to a frigid 3 degrees on Feb. 4. It was under 20 on 12 nights in February, and there was enough ice that ice boaters could set out on Mecox Bay for a brief period.

       Melted snow and rain — the total precipitation for the month — was 4.13 inches. Winds were mainly from the northwest on 15 days.

       In January, Mr. Hendrickson reported, wind was from the northwest on 19 days and there was a good amount of snow. He recorded 18 inches on Jan. 3 and 4 inches on Jan. 28. Snow was on the ground for the first week of that month and again for the last 11 days. “Sleighing downhill could be done most of the month,” he wrote.

       He recorded lows of minus 5 on Jan. 3 and 4 degrees on Jan. 7, and then a warm spell that lasted until Jan. 22, when temperatures dropped down to 8 degrees, followed by a low of 5 through the next night. It was below freezing every night for the rest of January.