beavis1729

Oops. I got it from this article...I guess they missed it. https://www.pressherald.com/2014/01/04/how_low_can_portland_temperatures_go__/

I poked around and looked for hourly temp/wind obs in Maine during late Feb 1943, but no luck so far. The -39 in Portland is even more shocking because, not only does it blow all other low temp readings out of the water in Portland...but it occurred relatively late in the season...on 2/26/1943. A cool 58 degrees below the 1981-2010 normal low of 19. Yikes.

Nice graphs...and for those interested in AK weather & climate, that Alaska-wx blog website is great. Wow, nearly every single day from Nov 2017 - Mar 2018 was above normal in Barrow (and these are recent normals, i.e. 1981-2010)...and many of those days were way way above normal. Perhaps it's not too surprising, as the persistently low amount of ice north of Barrow over the past 10-15 years significantly moderates the temps in Barrow due to E or NE flow...but still.

There aren't many things in science that remain undiscovered or undocumented..and I've never been able to locate a list of WC records by state anywhere. A fun little science/research project.

Ok, come on...this is not meant to be personal. All I'm trying to do is have a good list based on verifiable numbers. I'm a scientist, so it's important to have quality control of the data. It's not a personal vendetta. If others are estimated besides IN and KS, you're right that they shouldn't be on there either. It's a work in progress.

Ha...got to fill the summer downtime!!

These WC records are intended to be actual measured readings of temperature and sustained winds (even if intra-hour), not interpolated estimates based on winds at nearby areas, and not to fill in missing data.

Good catch - verified on wunderground hourly obs. I don't remember that cold snap - must have targeted New England instead of the Midwest.

I agree that WCs in Maine have dropped lower than -52...but I haven't been able to find a measured hourly/intra-hour number that can be verifiable. I looked at the locations and dates you mentioned, but no luck yet. Will keep looking!

The Farmer's Almanac data is actually using Duluth MN as an estimate for Superior WI, as it's the closest nearby station with reliable data. So, I only consider this an estimate for Superior.

This is great information and probably mirrors the general conditions in the area on these dates...but for purposes of WC records, I don't think it's good "quality control" to use estimated/mean #'s.

Yep, good point. I'll go with this number, as it appears to be reliable based on an actual measurement, as opposed to an estimate/interpolation based on mean winds at the time of the lowest temp.

Agree...but in this case, it seems to be actual reliable measured information...as opposed to an interpolated estimate or a guess based on mean winds (which some other numbers in this thread are based on). I'll go with -60 for the IL record.

Bonus fact The coldest wind chill on record in North America appears to be -108 in Pelly Bay, Nunavut on 1/13/1975. Temp -59 with winds of 34 mph. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/the-science-of-wind-chill-1.819530

I added GA...I'm sure there has been a lower WC value in the NE GA mountains...but the -28 in Atlanta on 1/21/1985 was the lowest that I could verify. I updated MT, based on the all-time statewide min at Rogers Pass mentioned in the MT Climate Atlas: https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/tfx/climate/montatlas/MontanaAtlasToC.html Also, I revised the AK record, as I could not validate the -102 in Deadhorse on 1/28/1989. The lowest appears to be -100 in McGrath on 1/27/1989 (temp -72 with a 7 mph wind...one of Alaska's greatest cold waves on record). Here is a great write-up on the AK wind chill record...including comments on Mt. Washington: http://us-climate.blogspot.com/2014/12/us-national-wind-chill-record.html

Yeah...-46 with 92 mph winds is a -107 WC. I can relate to the "walk backwards days"...those are some hardcore conditions. I can remember 2 days like this in N IL over the past 25 years: 1/18/1994 in college, walking across campus early in the morning with temps around -22 with wind gusts in the 20s...at least it was bright and sunny! Also, 1/6/2014 IMBY in the NW suburbs of Chicago...with a temp of -17 and WC in the -40s...and cloudy skies with a foot of snow on the ground. Amazing how much more arctic-like it feels when it's cloudy during those cold conditions...even though of course the temp was probably held up a bit since there wasn't much radiational cooling.

That's impressive for VA. The more I read about it, it seems like the January 1985 arctic outbreak may not be matched for 100+ years in some locations.

Thank you, and I appreciate the Maine info. Ding ding ding! The WC in Caribou hit -52 on 1/18/1982 (temp -25 with 16 mph sustained winds from the SW ). Not bad. The other dates you mentioned saw wind chills ranging from -45 to -51 in Caribou. Let's go with -52 for the Maine record, for now.

Good catch...and it's mentioned again here...although it (incorrectly?) says February instead of January. http://www.unionleader.com/Not-a-record,-but-windchill-on-Mount-Washington-hits--97 Since the modern wind chill algorithm went into use in 2000, the coldest wind chill atop Mount Washington was minus 107 in February 2004 when the air temperature was minus 44. Also, this link (see Slide 14 of 16 of the slideshow embedded in the article): http://www.wmur.com/article/photos-mount-washington-extreme-weather-facts/5133412 However, on Wikipedia and in a separate article, it mentions -103: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Washington_(New_Hampshire) http://knowbefore.weatherbug.com/2015/01/21/mount-washington-home-worlds-worst-weather/ On January 16, 2004, the summit weather observation registered a temperature of −43.6 °F (−42.0 °C) and sustained winds of 87.5 mph (140.8 km/h), resulting in a wind chill value of −102.59 °F (−74.77 °C) at the mountain I also saw Tamarack's post about the possibility of even colder wind chills on 1/8/1968 or late Dec. 1962...but I haven't been able to verify the WC at any moment on these dates. Here is a note about 1/8/1968 (the -150 WC estimate is on the old scale): http://articles.courant.com/1999-01-16/features/9901180664_1_chris-uggerholt-mount-washington-wind-chill/2 Jan. 8, 1968, is considered one of the worst weather days on record. The wind averaged 92 mph while the temperature ranged from 38 below zero to 46 below zero. That translated to an estimated still-air temperature of minus 150. An observer who went up in the tower that day to tend to the instruments returned with his eyelashes frozen shut.

Thanks again KK - good finds. I'll update the list & numbers in a subsequent post. Amazing how often January 1985 is appearing on the list. Although that cold wave was brutal, it was short-lived...but then again, so are most cold waves in this part of the world. ORD high/low temps: 1/18/85: 24/10 1/19/85: 10/-22 1/20/85: -5/-27 1/21/85: 18/-5 1/22/85: 19/10 1/23/85: 24/15

It looks like Presidio and Midland both hit 110+ during the recent heat wave. I am not too familiar with TX climo...but that seems incredibly hot, especially for fairly early in the "hot" season.

Thanks for the info and documentation, KK. Impressive numbers in Waterloo on Christmas Eve 1983. While the difference between -40 and -55 WCs may not be that noticeable, I think there is a huge difference between WCs in the -40s vs. the -20s. Most winters, we have a few days with wind chills in the -20s, which is generally tolerable. Once you hit a -40 WC, it's a different world. The last bitter air I experienced was 1/6/2014, when ORD hit -16...and IMBY it was -17 with 25 mph sustained winds, creating wind chills in the -40s. Temps stayed in the -10 to -15 range during much of the afternoon and evening, and there was a foot of snow on the ground. It looked like the arctic tundra.

Fun times. My first weather memory is the December 1983 arctic outbreak, when I was 9. For some reason, I don't remember January 1985...when ORD hit -27. I wasn't enough of a cold weenie then...

Severe T-storm Watch just issued for much of IL and MO. ORD is at 81/61...a nice recovery from the rain earlier. PIA is 89/68.

Great info. Impressive to have 2 consecutive sub-freezing high temps in mid-April! Interesting that a -3.5 departure is your coldest April in the past 20 years. I imagined April being a more variable month...but perhaps the general nature of the month (cloudiness and precip) tends to keep things more consistent from a temperature standpoint from year to year. In Chicago (ORD), the mean temp in April 2018 was 41.2, a departure of -7.7. Coldest April in Chicago since 1907. Unfortunately, the obs site has moved around so much over the years (plus UHI increasing), so it's difficult to compare apples to apples since records began in 1870. Warmest April is 57.0 in 1955.