From NWS Duluth, MN, an old record beaten by five degrees:
RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
518 PM CST FRI JAN 21 2011
...RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE SET AT INTERNATIONAL FALLS MN...
A RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE OF -46 DEGREES WAS SET AT INTERNATIONAL
FALLS MN TODAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF -41 SET IN 1954.
Here is a map (above) of a few notable low temperatures across the area. The contoured shading in the background was created by interpolating the observations using GIS software. Therefore, the contours may not necessarily match individual observations, but the overall trend in temperatures is pretty close. Areas near Lake Superior managed to stay much warmer than outlying areas, and you can even detect a hint of urban heat influences around the Twin Cities.
The above pictures are from Babbitt, Minnesota where a frigid morning low temperature of -46 degrees was recorded on January 21, 2011. The pictures were taken by observer Ryan Scharber. The pictures show ice fog, which is usually a shallow fog consisting of suspended ice crystals. Ice fog usually only occurs when temperatures fall below -22 degrees Fahrenheit (-30 Celsius) according to the AMS Glossary. Normally, fog consists of tiny water droplets, or supercooled water droplets. However, when temperatures are as cold as they were this morning in parts of northern Minnesota, it becomes too cold for liquid water to exist, and small ice crystals can develop if the amount of water vapor in the air is sufficient.
Some notes of interest:
- The lowest temperatures recorded in the NWS Duluth county warning area were -46 degrees at both International Falls, MN (ASOS) and Babbitt, MN (CO-OP).
- The -46 degree low was tied for the 5th lowest on record at International Falls. Temperature records date back to 1897. The record is -55 degrees which was recorded on January 6, 1909.
- The -46 degree low was tied for the lowest on record at the International Falls Airport. The official observing station was moved to the airport in 1939. This is tied with the -46 degree reading from January 6, 1968.
- The -25 degree low at Duluth is tied for the 5th lowest minimum temperature in the last decade (since 2000). The lowest minimum temperature of the 2000s thus far has been -30 on January 29, 2004.
- The state record low temperature in Minnesota was recorded at Tower, Minnesota on February 2, 1996. The low was -60 degrees. That was also the coldest temperature ever recorded east of the Mississippi River.
- The state record low temperature in Wisconsin was recorded at Couderay on February 2nd and February 4th of 1996. The temperatures dipped down to -55 degrees both nights.
List Of Coldest Morning Lows
THE FOLLOWING ARE OBSERVED LOW TEMPERATURES THROUGH 900 AM FRIDAY JANUARY 21 2011. TEMPERATURES ARE IN DEGREES FAHRENHEIT. TEMP LOCATION ST COUNTY SOURCE ---- ----------------------- -- -------------- ------- -46 INTERNATIONAL FALLS MN KOOCHICHING ASOS -46 BABBITT MN ST LOUIS COOP -43 EMBARRASS MN ST LOUIS COOP -43 BIGFORK MN ITASCA RAWS -43 ASH LAKE MN ST LOUIS MNDOT -43 EFFIE MN ITASCA RAWS -40 LITTLEFORK MN KOOCHICHING COOP -40 BIRCHDALE MN KOOCHICHING MNDOT TEMP LOCATION ST COUNTY SOURCE ---- ----------------------- -- -------------- ------- -39 ORR MN ST LOUIS RAWS -38 MINONG WI WASHBURN RAWS -38 CASS LAKE MN CASS RAWS -38 SQUAW LAKE MN ITASCA MNDOT -38 CUTFOOT MN ITASCA RAWS -38 BOVEY MN ITASCA PRIVATE -38 KABETOGAMA MN ST LOUIS COOP -38 CRANE LAKE MN ST LOUIS AWOS -37 MARGIE MN KOOCHICHING MNDOT -37 HILL CITY MN ITASCA RAWS -37 ELY MN ST LOUIS RAWS -37 RICE LAKE MN AITKIN RAWS -36 LONG LAKE MN ITASCA PRIVATE -36 JACOBSON MN AITKIN MNDOT -36 BARNES WI BAYFIELD RAWS -36 COTTON MN ST LOUIS MNDOT -36 MAKINEN MN ST LOUIS PRIVATE -36 LONGVILLE MN CASS AWOS -36 PINE RIVER MN CASS AWOS -36 SEAGULL LAKE MN COOK RAWS -36 WRIGHT MN ST LOUIS COOP -35 LAKE VERMILION MN ST LOUIS PRIVATE -35 KABETOGAMA MN ST LOUIS RAWS TEMP LOCATION ST COUNTY SOURCE ---- ----------------------- -- -------------- ------- -34 MCGRATH MN AITKIN MNDOT -34 ASH RIVER MN ST LOUIS PRIVATE -34 GUNFLINT LAKE MN COOK COOP -34 HAYWARD WI SAWYER RAWS -34 LIND WI BURNETT RAWS -34 MOOSE LAKE MN CARLTON RAWS -33 GRAND RAPIDS MN ITASCA AWOS -33 SAGINAW MN ST LOUIS MNDOT -33 COHASSET MN ITASCA PRIVATE -33 MCGREGOR MN AITKIN AWOS -33 AITKIN MN AITKIN AWOS -33 HIBBING MN ST LOUIS RAWS -33 JENKINS MN CROW WING PRIVATE -33 EMILY MN CROW WING MNDOT -33 BRAINERD MN CROW WING ASOS -33 MOOSE LAKE MN CARLTON AWOS -33 SOUTH RANGE WI DOUGLAS PRIVATE -32 GRANTSBURG WI BURNETT PRIVATE -31 SILVER BAY MN LAKE AWOS -31 TWO HARBORS MN LAKE AWOS -31 LEADER MN CASS PRIVATE -31 DEER RIVER MN ITASCA PRIVATE -31 SIREN WI BURNETT AWOS -31 GRANTSBURG WI BURNETT WIDOT -31 HINCKLEY MN PINE PRIVATE -30 BREEZY POINT MN CROW WING PRIVATE -30 TUCKER LAKE MN COOK PRIVATE -30 GLIDDEN WI ASHLAND RAWS -30 GORDON WI DOUGLAS RAWS TEMP LOCATION ST COUNTY SOURCE ---- ----------------------- -- -------------- ------- -29 I-35 MILE 198 MN PINE MNDOT -29 SEELEY WI SAWYER PRIVATE -29 4W CLAM LAKE WI BAYFIELD PRIVATE -29 CANOSIA TOWNSHIP MN ST LOUIS PRIVATE -29 GILBERT MN ST LOUIS PRIVATE -29 ISABELLA MN LAKE RAWS -28 10 NE DULUTH MN ST LOUIS SCHOOL -28 AURORA MN ST LOUIS PRIVATE -28 NISSWA MN CROW WING PRIVATE -28 MERRIFIELD MN CROW WING PRIVATE -27 SPOONER WI WASHBURN SCHOOL -27 HERMANTOWN MIDDLE SCHOOL MN ST LOUIS SCHOOL -27 HAUGEN WI WASHBURN WIDOT -26 DRUMMOND WI BAYFIELD SCHOOL -26 SUPERIOR WI DOUGLAS AWOS -26 PHILLIPS WI PRICE AWOS -25 FERNBERG MN LAKE RAWS -25 WASHBURN WI BAYFIELD RAWS -25 PINE CITY MN PINE SCHOOL -25 DULUTH MN ST LOUIS ASOS -24 DULUTH THOMPSON HILL MN ST LOUIS MNDOT -24 I-35 MILE 181 MN PINE MNDOT -22 HIGH BRIDGE WI ASHLAND PRIVATE -22 MAPLE WI DOUGLAS PRIVATE -22 BLATNIK BRIDGE MN ST LOUIS MNDOT -21 LESTER PARK / DULUTH MN ST LOUIS PRIVATE -21 SILVER CREEK MN LAKE PRIVATE -20 CHESTER PARK / DULUTH MN ST LOUIS PRIVATE
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BTW, International Falls holds the registered trademark of Icebox of the Nation
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phlogiston says @ur momisugly January 22, 2011 at 11:48 am: “Who in the mainstream AGW camp, and the AGW-controlled media, was saying, 5 or 10 years ago, that Europe and USA should prepare for colder winters due to global warming, from melting Arctic ice?”
Careful! The AGW camp is a big tent, and there has been a willingness to fund a wide variety of research projects with different arguments. There has been plenty of obscure angles, leading to a list of thousands of developments that AGW will cause. Therefore, no matter what development occur in reality, the AGW can point to some study in the past that matches it.
What you say about the message of mainstream AGW is certainly true. But when you go on to say “No one,” someone will probably come up with a contradiction.
Roasted Earth says:
January 22, 2011 at 7:32 pm
link 1) Article written last june trotting out CAGW’s latest “theory” on colder, snowier winters being magically connected to warming, via changing air pressures at the NP, and shifting wind currents. Anything to keep the dream alive.
links 2 and 3) Ah, the old “Day After Tomorrow” theories – completely different from their latest Hail Mary, and based on ocean circulation. Equally hilarious. Keep ’em coming, Roast.
As well as unprecedented cold in parts of US and Europe, there appears to be unprecedented warmth in large parts of Canada.
See http://www2.ucar.edu/currents/cold-comfort-canadas-record-smashing-mildness where it is stated that “Similarly, a large swath of the Baffin/Newfoundland Sea fell weeks behind schedule in freezing up. As evident in the charts at bottom, these bodies of water remain in catch-up mode. Around the south part of Baffin Island, “the boats were still in the water during the first week of January,” says David Phillips, a senior climatologist with Environment Canada. “The Meteorological Service of Canada was still writing marine forecasts as of 7 January, well beyond anything we have ever done.”
Storm after storm sweeping up the East Coast in recent weeks has pumped warm Atlantic air across eastern Canada, helping postpone the freeze-up even further and allowing temperatures over land to soar far above average.
According to Philips, the implications for people in the far north have been widespread. Nunavut’s capital, Iqaluit, had to cancel its year-end snowmobile run on Frobisher Bay for the first time. “Last New Year’s Eve, the big story was ice breaking up,” says Phillips. “This year there was no ice to break up.” Worst of all, he adds, “it’s impossible for many people in parts of the eastern Arctic to safely get on the ice to hunt much-needed food for their families—for the second winter in a row. Never before have we seen weather impact a way of life in so many small and big ways.”
“
You’ve got to respect those men, women, and dogs who race in the Idatarod in such cold weather, in the dark, and sleep deprived. I can’t imagine.
RE:
Roasted Earth says:
January 22, 2011 at 7:32 pm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100611093710.htm
This one is not a forecast – issued in 2010.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12455&tid=282&cid=10046
Cannot open this one.
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0130-11.htm
Global warming causing and ice age?
First, you need warming for this theory to work.
Second, Does not all the warming from CO2 overcome the cooling?
This sounds like another theory that tries to cover both sides of the fence.
The cold weather in Minnesota represents a shift in air flow patterns. Parts of the Arctic have gotten warmer, while colder air, which normally is resident in the Arctic, has shifted southward to the US.
The 500millibar height anomaly chart on the following web page which is related to the temperature of the air below, shows how the height in the Arctic region has been way above normal, while the height in the eastern US is way below normal.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/1/23/162159/035
-15 (F) in Southern New Hampshire, at five AM. This is no way to start a Monday.
Caleb says:
January 24, 2011 at 2:50 am
“-15 (F) in Southern New Hampshire, at five AM. This is no way to start a Monday.”
I live in Northern Vermont. It is cold here, but it was way colder here in the 1970’s. The record low for Burlington Vermont for this day is -22F set in 1948. We got to -11F last night.
The Arctic air will be gone from here tomorrow.
0F (-19C) in western MD this morning. Ice on the insides of windows. This is actually a pretty typical “season low” for this area, often occurring around this time of year.
But the winter is still young….
If you can’t attribute any single event to global warming, why do you insist on publicizing isolated incidents of extreme cold, since you agree they are meaningless in terms of climate?!!? Do negative anomalies debunk AGW, while warm anomalies are merely normal variations? Now that’s some excellent climatic hypocrisy.
Sorry, but you can’t have it both ways, especially while ignoring the extraordinary positive anomalies over Greenland and the Arctic at the same time!