February goes in record books for coldest month ever

Photos by Tom Rivers – This tractor is pictured in a field of snow along Holley Road in Albion on Friday when temperatures were in the single digits for most of the day. There is at least 2 feet of snow still on the ground.

It’s never been colder in Western New York for an entire month than February 2015, according to National Weather Service.

Buffalo averaged a temperature of 10.9 degrees and never once went above freezing. That average temperature broke the previous record-low of 11.6 degrees in February 1934, according to the National Weather Service.

Rochester was a little it warmer but the 12.2-average temperature was below the previous record of 12.6 degrees also set in February 1934.

Watertown also broke its record for coldest month ever. It averaged 6.1 degrees for February, colder than the 6.4 degree-average in December 1989.

The canal bridge on Telegraph Road in Murray is pictured at dusk on Saturday.

The first day of March should hit a high of 28 today with 22 degrees tonight, according to the Weather Service.

Monday is forecast for a high of 25 and a low of 4, followed by a high of 30 on Tuesday and a high of 34 on Wednesday.

However, the Weather Service warns of hazardous weather for Orleans and western and central New York due to a wintry mix of sleet and feeezing rain expected Tuesday.

“The period of rain Tuesday night ay result in minor flooding of low lying and poor drainage areas, especially where snow has blocked storm drains,” according to the Weather Service.