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Tower MN and International Falls MN

beavis1729

By beavis1729,
in Central/Western States

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beavis1729

beavis1729

Posted
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:devilsmiley:

For all those who love the cold as much as I do...let's talk about the peaceful little town of Tower, Minnesota. :snowman:

Population: 502

http://en.wikipedia....ower,_Minnesota

Of course, it is most well-known for the coldest temperature ever recorded east of the Rockies: -60F on 02/02/1996.

I did a quick analysis if the co-op data from Tower, found on the Utah State University climate page. Some data is missing, but it's a fairly consistent record dating back to the late 1800s.

I'll try to post facts every so often in this thread, just for fun. :thumbsup:

Feel free to add your own comments as well.

Let's start on a hot note: how many days in Tower's history have seen a temperature of 100F or greater?

Answer: two.

101F on 07/14/1901

100F on 07/13/1901

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beavis1729

beavis1729

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It is definitely a MN cold spot along with others like Ely, Hibbing, etc. It is definitely in a perfect spot in a small depression in the terrain and right next to a frozen Lake Vermilion. The overall terrain around there is also somewhat high for MN, at around 1200-1400 feet above MSL.

Yeah...Tower seems to have everything going for it when it comes to cold, and in particular radiational cooling.

Its latitude/short days helps too...at about 48N.

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baroclinic_instability

baroclinic_instability

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Yeah...Tower seems to have everything going for it when it comes to cold, and in particular radiational cooling.

Its latitude/short days helps too...at about 48N.

It would be interesting to see how shallow that cold air really is at that observation, I bet on those real cold nights it barely extends 50 feet above the ground. Since you brought up Utah...it reminds me of this site in Utah, Peters Sink. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Sinks

The cold inversions are so extreme trees don't grow at the very bottom of the sink!

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beavis1729

beavis1729

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It would be interesting to see how shallow that cold air really is at that observation, I bet on those real cold nights it barely extends 50 feet above the ground. Since you brought up Utah...it reminds me of this site in Utah, Peters Sink. http://en.wikipedia....iki/Peter_Sinks

The cold inversions are so extreme trees don't grow at the very bottom of the sink!

I've heard of that place...absolutely fascinating. Very cool.

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beavis1729

beavis1729

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always fun to watch the tower/embarrass temp battles. incredible sometimes how cold they can get in comparison to neighboring areas, esp. when comparing to a place like grand marais on the lake. i still need to visit tower, though.

Agree. I was in Lutsen, MN about 5 winters ago, near the Lake Superior shore...and then went inland a few miles and up about 1,500 feet in elevation. It's like two different worlds.

It was about 10F with 30 mph winds near the shore...and about 0F with 15 mph winds at the higher elevation, with clearer skies and a bit more snowcover. :thumbsup:

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mnweather

mnweather

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The climate up here on the north shore is incredible. With the storm last weekend at the shore there was mostly rain but you head inland even a mile and there was an inch of snow on the ground. Areas 5 miles from the lake had over 6 inches. What is really impressive to me was the Halloween megastorm of 1991 with 3 feet of snow all the way down to the lakeshore. Now that is very impressive for any month but in October at the lakeshore it is just outrageous.

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baroclinic_instability

baroclinic_instability

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Since we are talking about terrain and the Arrowhead/North Shore, some of you may not have seen this, but a standing wave cloud associated with terrain blocking and a vertically propagating lee wave developed a lee cirrus cloud a couple years ago. Pretty impressive for terrain ~ 1500-2000.

http://cimss.ssec.wi...g/archives/1414

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msp

msp

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Since we are talking about terrain and the Arrowhead/North Shore, some of you may not have seen this, but a standing wave cloud associated with terrain blocking and a vertically propagating lee wave developed a lee cirrus cloud a couple years ago. Pretty impressive for terrain ~ 1500-2000.

http://cimss.ssec.wi...g/archives/1414

wow, great find. i never saw that. i had no idea it could form over terrain that low. i assumed you needed a greater change in elevation.

that weird type of situation reminds me a bit of the LES from lake mille lacs a few years back.

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baroclinic_instability

baroclinic_instability

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wow, great find. i never saw that. i had no idea it could form over terrain that low. i assumed you needed a greater change in elevation.

that weird type of situation reminds me a bit of the LES from lake mille lacs a few years back.

It is quite impressive, I had never seen that either until that event. That area does form trapped lee waves quite frequently, but the trapped wave mode is easier to achieve over subtle and generally low terrain rises.

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aslkahuna

aslkahuna

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I believe that ND has also had a -60F reading. All these really cold spots have the same characteristics. Rogers Pass in MT which holds the 48 State record at -70F is also a depression in high terrain. Hawley Lake in AZ-ditto (-40F there) and Boca in CA which has the CA record at -45F. In SE AZ, the highland valleys of Cochise County have their pneumonia hollows-one being the San Pedro River. Temperatures there on cold nights are often in the single digits and have gone below Zero and the Playa around Willcox and the town proper has gotten as low as -10F. Rather nippy for latitude 31-32N. Of course the washes in the deserts here which serve as highways for illegal activity are also notoriously cold during Winter nights. Talking about the depth of cold air, we had our mesonet towers instrument for temperature as 0, 2, and 10 meters and would at times see as much as a 20 degree difference between 0 and 10 meters and 30 degrees over a 32 meter interval.

Steve

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beavis1729

beavis1729

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Here are Tower's normal high and low temps on the 15th of each month. I'm also including Chicago's for comparison.

Jan...17/-10 (30/14)

Feb...22/-6 (36/19)

Mar...35/9 (46/28)

Apr...52/24 (59/38)

May...66/36 (72/49)

Jun...74/44 (79/58)

Jul...78/49 (84/64)

Aug...76/46 (82/63)

Sep...68/39 (75/54)

Oct...52/29 (62/43)

Nov...35/15 (46/29)

Dec...20/-2 (35/19)

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beavis1729

beavis1729

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Even though Tower is most well known for the -60F temperature on 02/02/1996, there have actually been 3 other days in Tower's recorded history with a daily average temperature colder than 02/02/1996. It's hard to imagine, but here they are:

:shiver:

01/29/1899: High -36F, Low -48F, Daily Average -42F

01/31/1899: High -33F, Low -47F, Daily Average -40F

01/17/1982: High -25F, Low -52F, Daily Average -38.5F

02/02/1996: High -16F, Low -60F, Daily Average -38F

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beavis1729

beavis1729

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Here are the two coldest 14-day periods in Tower's history:

(1) January 27 - February 9, 1899: Average temperature of -25.9

01/27/1899: high -15, low -39

01/28/1899: high -17, low -32

01/29/1899: high -36, low -48

01/30/1899: high -31, low -41

01/31/1899: high -33, low -47

02/01/1899: high -5, low -16

02/02/1899: high -8, low -27

02/03/1899: high -5, low -29

02/04/1899: high -6, low -19

02/05/1899: high -11, low -25

02/06/1899: high -14, low -36

02/07/1899: high -15, low -39

02/08/1899: high -22, low -37

02/09/1899: high -29, low -45

(2) January 21 - February 3, 1996: Average temperature of -22.9

01/21/1996: high 0, low -57

01/22/1996: high 15, low -17

01/23/1996: high 0, low -48

01/24/1996: high 8, low -48

01/25/1996: high 3, low -50

01/26/1996: high 4, low -48

01/27/1996: high 6, low -48

01/28/1996: high 9, low -32

01/29/1996: high 5, low -28

01/30/1996: high 0, low -35

01/31/1996: high -7, low -55

02/01/1996: high -6, low -58

02/02/1996: high -16, low -60

02/03/1996: high -19, low -60

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jbcmh81

jbcmh81

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Here are the two coldest 14-day periods in Tower's history:

(1) January 27 - February 9, 1899: Average temperature of -25.9

01/27/1899: high -15, low -39

01/28/1899: high -17, low -32

01/29/1899: high -36, low -48

01/30/1899: high -31, low -41

01/31/1899: high -33, low -47

02/01/1899: high -5, low -16

02/02/1899: high -8, low -27

02/03/1899: high -5, low -29

02/04/1899: high -6, low -19

02/05/1899: high -11, low -25

02/06/1899: high -14, low -36

02/07/1899: high -15, low -39

02/08/1899: high -22, low -37

02/09/1899: high -29, low -45

Those numbers can't be right. How can you have a low of -32 on 1/28/99 but have a high of -36 the following day? Or how about a high of -33 on 1/31/99 but a low of -16 on 2/1/99? Clearly those aren't correct. You have to be careful with older data like that.

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beavis1729

beavis1729

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Those numbers can't be right. How can you have a low of -32 on 1/28/99 but have a high of -36 the following day? Or how about a high of -33 on 1/31/99 but a low of -16 on 2/1/99? Clearly those aren't correct. You have to be careful with older data like that.

Good point...and I agree. I was just using the co-op data as is.

With that in mind, a case could be made that late Jan/early Feb 1996 was the coldest 2-week period on record.

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  • 10 months later...
beavis1729

beavis1729

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I wanted to resurrect this thread, as winter is fast approaching.

Here are some cold weather milestones for INL, going back to when records began in 1909. All of this is courtesy of the Utah State University climate website.

(1) A "typical" Fall/Winter features:

- First 36F temp or lower by 09/06

- First 32F temp or lower by 09/18 (earliest occurrence: 08/21/2004)

- First 28F temp or lower by 09/29 (earliest occurrence: 09/03/1997)

- First 20F temp or lower by 10/27 (earliest occurrence: 09/15/2011 - Note 19F on 9/15/2011...the only sub-20F temp on record in September!)

- First 10F temp or lower by 11/12 (earliest occurrence: 10/22/1913 - Rather chilly before Halloween!)

- First 0F temp or lower by 11/26 (earliest occurrence: 11/04/1991 - following the huge snowstorm in MSP/DLH)

- First -10F temp or lower by 12/06 (earliest occurrence: 11/08/2003)

- First -20F temp or lower by 12/21 (earliest occurrence: 11/25/1977)

- First -30F temp or lower by N/A* (earliest occurrence: 11/28/1985 - this may be the most impressive record of them all)

- First -40F temp or lower by N/A* (earliest occurrence: 12/19/1983 - the brutal Christmas cold wave)

* Not all winters see a temp this low

(2) The "warmest" recorded low temp for all Winters (back to 1909) is -20. In other words, residents know that the temperature in every winter to drop to -20 at some point.

(3) The all-time low is -46F, last set on 01/21/2011

(4) The warm winter of 2001-02 featured the latest first sub-zero temp in the season (12/28/2001)

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