February was truly a month of weather extremes for Paducah

February was a month of extremes for Paducah, according to figures compiled by the National Weather Service -- extreme warmth, extreme cold, and extreme precipitation.

Meteorologists said Paducah started the month registering their warmest first 8 days of February ever. That included a record high of 73 on Feb. 3. 

But the bottom dropped out during the next two weeks. That included a brutal blast of arctic air that tamped highs down into the teens, and even a few sub-zero lows across southeast Missouri and southern Illinois. Wind chills of -5 to -10 were experienced across most of the region. 

Temperatures rebounded all the way back to the 60s and even 70s to end the month. Overall, Paducah experienced a 72-degree spread in temperatures for February, only the 6th time it has happened during any month since 1998. 

The extreme precipitation included a record 4.5 inches of rain in Paducah during a single day (Feb. 15.) That led to widespread flash flooding across western Kentucky, then ultimately historic flooding across the entire state.

And don't forget the snow, packaged in two separate events. The first was tucked right behind the flooding rain, with a quick 1 to 3 inches that left many yards with a white coating and standing water at the same time. 

A couple of days later came another winter storm that produced common 4 to 7 inch totals across western Kentucky, and up to 11 inches in southeast Missouri.



Many parts of the state had the simultaneous experience of inches of snow on top of feet fo flood waters, as shown here in central Kentucky.(AP Photo Timothy D. Easley)