And it’s only going to be warmer today

Columbia is coming out of one of its driest months on record.

As of Tuesday afternoon, February was tied with a record set in 1991 as one of the driest months — with only 0.11 inches of precipitation.

February 2006 enters into the top five of the driest months on record, according to the National Weather Service in St. Louis.

Average rainfall for February is 2.20 inches, said Pat Guinan, a climatologist at MU.

It’s too early to tell what effect the dry month will have on Columbia — the rain season is in the spring, Guinan said.

For the spring season, the 90-day forecast calls for an equal chance for rain, said Arno Perlow of the National Weather Service in St. Louis.

Columbia residents can expect today to be partly cloudy with a high of 75, Perlow said.

“There is a chance for rain Saturday and Sunday morning,” he said. “It won’t be too much rain, and it won’t have an impact on the dry conditions.”

The driest month overall in Columbia was in January 1986, with 0.05 inches of rain, Perlow said.