Georgia has just experienced its wettest winter on record and it was also one of the mildest, with Gainesville recording only 18 days of freezing or below temperatures.
The National Weather Service released its Winter 2019-2020 Climate Summary last week and it says the state's wet winter was "boosted by (an) exceptionally wet February." The report covers the meteorological winter - December, January, and February.
Locally, data recorded at Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport in Gainesville show the city received 22.99 inches of rain during that three-month period, 8.59 inches above normal. The wettest day of the winter was February 6, when the airport recorded 3.54 inches.
As for temperatures, the average 2019-2020 wintertime temperature in Gainesville was 47, which is 3.4 degrees above normal. The warmest day was February 3 when the high reached 73. The coldest was January 22, with a low of 23. Of the 18 days when freezing or below readings occurred, the longest stretch was four days in mid-January.
The outlook for spring?
The NWS says there's a nearly 50 percent chance of both above normal temperatures and rainfall between now and the end of May. And, as AccessWDUN reported last week, the weather service says spring floods nationwide this year are expected to be "milder" than a year ago but with north and central Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia among the highest-risk areas.
