Dog days of February: How close is today’s high temperature to the record?

Published 11:51 am Thursday, February 23, 2023

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NATCHEZ — The National Weather Service in Jackson reports Natchez has a high of 82 degrees today. Historically, it is 19 degrees warmer than the average for February 23.

However, there are a few other years where the temperature has been a little warmer than 82 in February. In 2012, temperatures hit 84 degrees according to the National Weather Service. The other top four warmest February 23rds were in 2019, 1996, 1982 and 1930 with 83 degrees.

Mississippi’s highest temperature in February ever was recorded on February 25, 1918 with 89 degrees. It must have felt like a sauna.

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On the other hand, Mississippi’s coldest temperature on February 23 was a low of 17 degrees recorded in 1964.

Here are figures on yesterday’s wind speeds. The wind was forecast to be strong Wednesday and the NWS Jackson office reported gusts at 45 mph were recorded and the highest sustained speed was 30 mph. The average wind speed Wednesday was 16 mph.

Sounds like some great baseball or softball weather.