There has been almost a death watch going on for Chicago, looking for an all time new all-time low temperature record to beat the previous -27°F. For those wishing for a new datapoint, Chicago didn’t beat the all time record, but did set a new record for the day:
The official low temperature at Chicago this morning was -21F. This shatters the previous record for Jan 31st, which was -12F set back 1985. In records that date back to the 1870s, this is only the 15th time Chicago has seen a daily low this cold or colder, yesterday was 14th.
— NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) January 31, 2019
O’Hare Airport was even colder at -23°F
But, not far away, in Rockford, the temperature hit -31°F, exceeding even the NWS announcement a couple of hours ago:
*** All-time Record Low Broken for Rockford ***
With a low temperature of -30°F as of 6:45am this morning, Rockford has broken the all-time record low temperature of -27°F set on 1/10/1982. Records for Rockford date back to 1905. Correction to previous record date.
— NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) January 31, 2019
Per @NWSQuadCities, -38° was reported in Mount Carroll, Illinois this morning. If accurate, this would set a new Illinois STATE record for low temperature
-56° in Cotton, Minnesota this AM was awfully close to their state record as well pic.twitter.com/gBAqCsyNa0
— Greg Diamond (@gdimeweather) January 31, 2019
A look at the nation shows the depth of the outbreak:
https://twitter.com/RyanMaue/status/1090999851314237447
Here’s the map, full size, click to enlarge:
In the scheme of things, this cold outbreak ranks with the worst according to Wikipedia references:
The 1936 North American cold wave ranks among the most intense cold waves in the recorded history of North America. The Midwestern United States and the Canadian Prairies were hit the hardest. Only the Southwestern United States and California largely escaped its effects.
February 1936 was the coldest February on record in the contiguous U.S., narrowly eclipsing February 1899.[1] It also was the coldest month ever in Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
The meteorological winter (December through February) of 1935/36 was the coldest on record for Iowa,[2] Minnesota,[3] North Dakota,[4] and South Dakota.[5] This winter was much colder than the immediately preceding winters. 1930 through 1934 had very mild winters in the U.S. 1930/31 was warm in the western north central states; 1931/32 in the mid- and south-Atlantic states, the eastern north central states, and the eastern south central states; 1932/33 in New England; and, 1933/34 in the mountain and Pacific states.[6] In the northern plains, the Februaries of 1925, 1926, 1927, 1930, 1931, and 1935 are among the 25 warmest Februaries between 1895 and 2017, although 1929 had the third-coldest February of all-time.[7]
…
The sea froze partially as far south as Chesapeake Bay.[citation needed] From January 25 to 28, the east had its coldest January temperatures in eighteen years, with Washington, D. C. averaging 14 °F (−10.0 °C)[18] High winds in some locations caused wind chills below −85 °F (−65.0 °C). In Ohio and the Centralia district of Illinois,[19] the cold destroyed the peach crop, whilst defective heaters caused numerous dangerous fires in Minnesota.[18]
The Cold wave of January 1977 produced the only known trace of snow in the greater Miami area of Florida ever reported, although the city itself did not report any snow (a trace of snow was documented in Lake Worth). It occurred following the passage of a strong cold front, in combination with a high-pressure area situated over the Mississippi River Valley. As a result, cold air moved far to the south across Florida, causing both snow flurries and record low temperatures. Most notably, the weather system brought snow flurries (seen in the air, but not on the ground) as far south as Homestead on January 19. No snow had ever been reported in southeastern Florida before or since.
January 1977 is the coldest month on record in the state of Ohio, with an average temperature of 11.9 degrees. Snowfall was above average throughout the month and the all-time record low of −25 °F (−32 °C) was set in Cincinnati. The Ohio River froze solid for the first time since 1918, halting commercial shipping for weeks. Some parts of northern Ohio stayed below freezing for the entire month [10]. Temperatures did not rise above freezing the entire month in a swath from eastern Iowa to western Pennsylvania northward.
Added: A bit of humor –
I'm still anxiously awaiting Al Gore's tweet connecting the record low temperatures to global warming. Nothing yet? Hurry up @algore #Climate #PolarVortex19
— Tim Huelskamp, Ph.D. (@CongHuelskamp) January 31, 2019
Trapped by bitter cold? Here’s some relief with Deals of the Day
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Meanwhile in Texas, we’re gonna need a wall at out northern border…
Funny!
Spain will be looking good to Europeans as well.
The winter of 1886 to 1887 was unusually cold.
With severe blizzards.
Tens of thousands of cattle died.
Bison knew how to survive.
Bison are a bit more suited for the open prairie climate as they have evolved with thicker coats. Modern breeding has created cattle who put on body mass quickly but have not necessarily been bred for cold prairie conditions.
Saw a photo a long time ago showing cattle horns and backs pocking through a snow field in Montana, believe it was from the year you are speaking of.
Sure they did. “Grow a much thicker coat in winter”.
It’s a hard skill to learn. 😉
There is a herd of Bison living in the White River valley south of Snag in western Yukon paralleling the Kluane Range, Canada where the coldest temperature in North America was recorded. It was, at the time, an Airforce base, I believe so I think it’s official.
climate dataEdit
On February 3, 1947, the record-low temperature for continental North America was recorded in Snag: −63.0 °C(−81.4 °F).[1] That same winter, two previous records had already been set: one in December noted various phenomena, particularly sound such as voices being heard clearly miles from their source. There was a clear sky (except for some ice fog), and mild to little wind. There were 38.1 centimetres (15.0 in) of snow on the ground, but it was decreasing. Another town 180 km (112 mi) northeast of Snag, Fort Selkirk, claimed an even lower temperature of −65 °C (−85 °F), but the claim could not be confirmed.[2]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snag,_Yukon
“On February 3, 1947, the record-low temperature for continental North America was recorded in Snag: −63.0 °C(−81.4 °F).[1] That same winter, two previous records had already been set: one in December noted various phenomena, particularly sound such as voices being heard clearly miles from their source. There was a clear sky (except for some ice fog), and mild to little wind. There were 38.1 centimetres (15.0 in) of snow on the ground, but it was decreasing. Another town 180 km (112 mi) northeast of Snag, Fort Selkirk, claimed an even lower temperature of −65 °C (−85 °F), but the claim could not be confirmed.[2]”
I was sent up near there in February 1970 to look at and sample a molybdenum showing brought to the company by the claim owner. They informed me it was free of snow (shadow of the high Kluane Range). In a small aircraft on skis we landed on White River it was minus 55C on the river, but about 300m up on a flat-topped hill it was about 25degrees warmer, not much but appreciated. The rock broke like glass when struck with a hammer.
In 1894 there was a major hurricane that made landfall in the Florida panhandle (at Appilachicola). That following winter brought an extended cold snap with the orange crop freezing in Florida.
Climate changes but I guess weather repeats itself.
And my son was taught in school that this is a result of the Arctic ice melting- GRRR, so mad I can barely speak.
So stop sending him to a school where he’s lied to. Homeschool is an option.
Climate doesn’t get warmer until the weather warms, first, and the weather ain’t gettin’ warmer.
It is in the NE, Boston for example is 54ºF, ~20ºF above average for the day and likely warmer tomorrow.
But I thought that Global warming was responsible for cold temperatures!
How often have I heard this fact with an analysis that I couldn’t understand.!
But these “scientists” know what they are doing. We have to cut carbon emissions if it kills us!
Where is Al Gore when we need him?
Cheers
Roger
http://www.rogerfromnewzealand.wordpress.com
Was on the far western edge, was supposed to be 3F this morning. Only got to 19F, which is normal for this time of the year. 50s this afternoon.
Just don’t mention solar minimum, PDO, or AMO and they will let you pass. Otherwise the periodicity police will stop you.
Can’t say how many times in the past two days I’ve heard people saying that it is colder in Chicago or wherever than it is in Antarctica. Not to say that Antarctica isn’t cold this time of year but it is almost in the middle of summer there!
And it is still this cold!
It’s time to slide this scare over to the UK and Paris where they need real weather to shake up the entrenched dogma.
As a Finn I must addmit that there is some cold there.
The extreme weather prediction is nice because it is correct what ever happens.
But has any climate scientist predict this sort phenomen say ten years ago?
Less snow was projected 😀
Hey, we Finns are a tough bunch! After all, who else would think of going from a nice hot sauna into a freezing lake and back again? (My mother is a Wuorinen from Vaasa.)
It was -8F here in central New Hampshire this morning, not bad at all. The eerie thing was that there was absolutely no wind when I left for work at 6:30 this morning, something unusual for weather like this. The only indication I had that it was really cold was that my truck struggled a little to start the engine, but that was it.
Another snowstorm is approaching Illinois.
Hopefully UAH TLT data will be out in a day or two and we can gauge what impact this recent cold weather outbreak in the US has had on global lower troposphere temperatures in January.
And here we have it: http://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/02/uah-global-temperature-update-for-january-2019-0-37-deg-c/
January 2019 was almost half a degree C (+0.48C) warmer than the 1981-2010 average temperature for January across the lower 48 US states, according to Dr Roy Spencer of UAH.
Globally, at +0.37 C above the 1981-2010 average, January 2019 was the 6th warmest January in the UAH record and the warmest January since 2016.
And December was 0.20ºC above average so February is going to have to be well below average for the NOAA forecast to fail.
Earlier today there was an outrageous piece of misinformation on the BBC, “conclusively” attributing the mid-west cold snap to climate change/global warming. It’s all to do with the disruption of the jetstream apparently. The piece has since disappeared from their site, which is a pity in a way as it was a classic
Ahh, the new catch phrase. Climate Change is out, Jet Stream Disruption is in.
testing
1977 was my senior year in high school, southwestern Michigan. One day it got to -27 F, with a high wind, and wind chills were reported as -80. We had 200 inches of snow that year, and I shoveled every inch of it off our 40- yard driveway. Front Street was plowed 11 feet high on both sides of the street.
Good times.
Looking at the NOAA view of surface temperatures it shows air that is below 0C stretching from the Himalayas to Texas, which is 30N on one side of the planet to 30N on the other. The UK’s southern shore just reaches 50N. It looks like the ALL of Russia (largest country in the world) is below 0C and just about all of Canada (2nd largest country in the world) is below 0C
President Trump should ride this cold wave for all it’s worth.
Tweet about each and every person (scientist, researcher, journalist, pundit, lazy MSM organizations, etc.) who forecast ‘warmer and wetter winters’. Name names, reply their quotes, allow people to see how badly they’ve been duped by all this cAGW (Climate Change™) nonsense.
Lake Superior froze all the way across in what year?
All that area of North America below 0°F used to be below a mile thick ice-sheet just 18,000 years ago, so it is still an improvement. Beringian hunters made their way to North America shortly after and aren’t known for complaining about the cold.
+1
Today is quite similar to the 1930’s then. Fairly hot, record highs, mild winters and then BAM, extremely cold winter(s).
By extension of course the global temperature will now need to be adjust up to offset the extremely low temperatures recorded recently that we know were caused by global warming aka climate change™.
No problem given this ‘head you lose , tail I win’ science current events are of course due to AGW, as are rains of frogs, and two-headed calfs being born in Hereford. For magical properties of CO2 means there is nothing it cannot do .
The almost zero ability for renewable to offer supply at this time , is nothing to worry about as we should still seek to go 100 % renewable .
1936, 1977, 2019. These events are 41 years and 42 years apart.
Coincidence?
Cycle?
“rbabcock January 31, 2019 at 8:25 am
The worst in the past 150 years evidently was 1899. https://www.history.com/news/coldest-day-temperatures-in-us-history”
add 1899 and there’s another 37 year gap
Pssst, and you didn’t get it from me.
http://www.climate4you.com/images/AMO%20GlobalAnnualIndexSince1856%20With11yearRunningAverage.gif
http://www.climate4you.com/images/NOAA%20SST-NorthAtlantic%20GlobalMonthlyTempSince1979%20With37monthRunningAverage.gif
http://www.climate4you.com/images/PDO%20AnnualIndexSince1900%20With7yearRunningAverage.gif
Here’s a reference to the big freeze in 1977 of the Chesapeake BayChesapeake Bay
And here are pictures of the frozen bay
frozen bay. I grew up south of Baltimore and that’s the only time I remember it being that bad.