beavis1729 Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 **List has been updated several times...keeping it in 1st post for easy reference** It's difficult to find exact records on this topic...but I thought it would be fun to document the coldest wind chill ever recorded by state. Of course, wind chills are computed based on sustained winds, not wind gusts. I am basing this off the new wind chill formula that was created in 2001. Let the fun begin. NH: -107 (Mount Washington, 1/16/2004)AK: -100 (McGrath, 1/27/1989) NY: -84 (Whiteface Mountain, 2/13/2016) MT: -70 (Rogers Pass, 1/20/1954) UT: -69 (Peter's Sink, 2/1/1985) ND: -68 (Williston, 12/24/1983) MN: -66 (Duluth, 1/10/1982) WY: -66 (Riverside Ranger Station, 2/9/1933) IA: -64 (Waterloo, 12/24/1983) SD: -63 (Watertown, 1/10/1982) CO: -61 (Maybell, 2/1/1985) ID: -60 (Island Park, 1/18/1943) IL: -60 (Chicago, 1/20/1985) WI: -59 (Eau Claire, 1/10/1982) NE: -58 (Chadron, 12/21/1989)OH: -56 (Akron-Canton, 1/20/1985) IN: -55 (Muncie, 1/20/1985) OR: -54 (Seneca, 2/10/1933) MI: -54 (Ironwood, 1/6/2014) ME: -54 (Frenchville, 1/14/2004) MD: -53 (Frostburg, 1/21/1985) KS: -52 (Oketo, 12/24/1983) PA: -51 (Bradford, 1/21/1985) WV: -50 (Beckley, 1/21/1985) NV: -50 (San Jacinto, 1/8/1937) NM: -50 (Gavilan, 2/1/1951) MO: -50 (Kirksville, 1/10/1982) KY: -48 (Covington, 1/20/1985) VA: -48 (Hot Springs, 1/21/1985) WA: -48 (Mazama, 12/30/1968) OK: -47 (Medford, 2/10/2011) NC: -45 (Asheville, 1/21/1985) CA: -45 (Boca, 1/20/1937) MA: -43 (Worcester, 1/23/1976) TN: -41 (Knoxville, 1/21/1985) AZ: -40 (Hawley Lake, 1/7/1971) AR: -38 (Harrison, 1/20/1985) TX: -37 (Amarillo, 1/12/1963) GA: -28 (Atlanta, 1/21/1985) AL: -26 (Huntsville, 1/21/1985) MS: -19 (Corinth, 1/30/1966) LA: -16 (Minden, 2/13/1899) FL: -10 (Pensacola, 1/21/1985) HI: 15 (Mauna Kea, 1/5/1975) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 -53F at IND on 1/20/1985 (temp -22, sustained wind 23 mph) but I've only checked a couple of the notorious cold dates so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beavis1729 Posted November 19, 2012 Author Share Posted November 19, 2012 North Dakota Minot AFB, 2/1/1996: -66F (-35F with 17 mph winds) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geos Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 That one really frigid February several years back there was wind chills around -35°F at Waukegan. For Madison, WI at least: -54°F was the lowest wind chill on January 20, 1985 between 4-5am. http://host.madison....1cc4c002e0.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beavis1729 Posted November 19, 2012 Author Share Posted November 19, 2012 That one really frigid February several years back there was wind chills around -35°F at Waukegan. For Madison, WI at least: -54°F was the lowest wind chill on January 20, 1985 between 4-5am. http://host.madison....1cc4c002e0.html Nice...it looks like La Crosse WI also had a -54F wind chill on 2/2/1996 (-34F with a 7 mph wind): http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KLSE/1996/2/2/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Wish we had wind chill info for 1/12/1918. Basically it was a weaker version of the 1978 Cleveland bomb but it brought in bitter cold air behind it. Some of the numbers must've been pretty low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnweather Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 -71 in northern MN. On January 9th and 10th, 1982 temperatures of -30 and winds of around 40mph were reported in Northern Minnesota. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beavis1729 Posted November 19, 2012 Author Share Posted November 19, 2012 -53F at IND on 1/20/1985 (temp -22, sustained wind 23 mph) but I've only checked a couple of the notorious cold dates so far. Wow - that's very impressive for central Indiana. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beavis1729 Posted November 19, 2012 Author Share Posted November 19, 2012 -71 in northern MN. On January 9th and 10th, 1982 temperatures of -30 and winds of around 40mph were reported in Northern Minnesota. Sounds like a lovely, brisk day. That may take the cake for the lower 48...unless somewhere in MT/ND came close... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beavis1729 Posted November 19, 2012 Author Share Posted November 19, 2012 Wish we had wind chill info for 1/12/1918. Basically it was a weaker version of the 1978 Cleveland bomb but it brought in bitter cold air behind it. Some of the numbers must've been pretty low. Me too...and of course you piqued my curiosity with this. Looks like Bloomington, IL set an all-time record low on that date (-23F). Tulsa, OK had a high temp of 2F on 1/11/1918...about 45 degrees below the 1981-2010 normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geos Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Wish we had wind chill info for 1/12/1918. Basically it was a weaker version of the 1978 Cleveland bomb but it brought in bitter cold air behind it. Some of the numbers must've been pretty low. So there was no wind data taken back then? What kind of temperatures were there? Graphic from GRB: National Weather Service Forecast Offices have adjusted the threshold values of Wind Chill Temperatures that trigger Wind Chill Advisories and Wind Chill Warnings, to reflect the new formula. Here's the formula: Wind Chill (F) = 35.74 + 0.6215T - 35.75(V0.16) + 0.4275T(V0.16) Where V = the wind speed value in mph and T = the temperature in �F Note: Frostbite occurs in 30 minutes or less at wind chill values of -18 or lower. Beavis - BTW, good thread idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Wow - that's very impressive for central Indiana. Muncie might've been lower that day...winds were stronger but there's no temperature data so I can't say for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 So there was no wind data taken back then? What kind of temperatures were there? I don't know where to get hourly data from back then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beavis1729 Posted November 19, 2012 Author Share Posted November 19, 2012 AlaskaDeadhorse, 1/28/1989: wind chill -102F (temp -54F with a 36 mph wind)...on the new scale! That is insane.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadhorse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geos Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Lowest Iowa wind chill readings I could find. Spencer and Estherville hit -45°F (new scale) on the morning of February 10, 2008. Probably some lower ones at some time during record keeping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Related to this...here is a study about the frequency of various wind chill readings in the northern US. http://www.crh.noaa.gov/crh/ssd/pdf/tsp_15.pdf Too bad they didn't do a map for wind chills of -50 or -60. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beavis1729 Posted November 20, 2012 Author Share Posted November 20, 2012 Related to this...here is a study about the frequency of various wind chill readings in the northern US. http://www.crh.noaa..../pdf/tsp_15.pdf Too bad they didn't do a map for wind chills of -50 or -60. Nice find. The "-40F % column" in the table at the end of the paper highlights some good towns to focus on for wind chill records. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beavis1729 Posted November 20, 2012 Author Share Posted November 20, 2012 Lowest Iowa wind chill readings I could find. Spencer and Estherville hit -45°F (new scale) on the morning of February 10, 2008. Probably some lower ones at some time during record keeping. Thanks...looks like Mason City IA had a wind chill of -54 at 4:00 AM on 2/2/1996....temp -29, wind 12 mph. http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KMCW/1996/2/2/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beavis1729 Posted November 20, 2012 Author Share Posted November 20, 2012 Wyoming Casper, 12/21/1990: wind chill of -55 (temp -30, wind 12 mph) http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KCPR/1990/12/21/DailyHistory.html Not saying this is the coldest wind chill on record in WY...but it's what I've found so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beavis1729 Posted November 20, 2012 Author Share Posted November 20, 2012 Florida Pensacola, 1/21/1985: wind chill -10 (temp 5, wind 10 mph) http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KPNS/1985/1/21/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinook Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Wish we had wind chill info for 1/12/1918. Basically it was a weaker version of the 1978 Cleveland bomb but it brought in bitter cold air behind it. Some of the numbers must've been pretty low. Bowling Green Ohio- book by county weather historian. "Back in the extremely cold winter of 1918, a severe blizzard commenced.... snow drifts ten feet high and dropped the temperature to 18 degrees below zero." Bowling green went from +24 to -18 that day. I can't exactly say what the wind chill was at any hour. It might have been 0F with a wind of 30mph, resulting in a wind chill of -25.9F. That's probably conservative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beavis1729 Posted November 21, 2012 Author Share Posted November 21, 2012 Bowling Green Ohio- book by county weather historian. "Back in the extremely cold winter of 1918, a severe blizzard commenced.... snow drifts ten feet high and dropped the temperature to 18 degrees below zero." Bowling green went from +24 to -18 that day. I can't exactly say what the wind chill was at any hour. It might have been 0F with a wind of 30mph, resulting in a wind chill of -25.9F. That's probably conservative. Good stuff...I never realized 1917-18 was such a cold winter in the Midwest/OV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beavis1729 Posted November 21, 2012 Author Share Posted November 21, 2012 Maine Frenchville, 1/16/2009: wind chill -47 (temp -30, wind 6 mph) http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KFVE/2009/1/16/DailyHistory.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geos Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 2/9/1899: -42° (all time record low) estimated wind chill -65°. (new scale) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Bowling Green Ohio- book by county weather historian. "Back in the extremely cold winter of 1918, a severe blizzard commenced.... snow drifts ten feet high and dropped the temperature to 18 degrees below zero." Bowling green went from +24 to -18 that day. I can't exactly say what the wind chill was at any hour. It might have been 0F with a wind of 30mph, resulting in a wind chill of -25.9F. That's probably conservative. There was easily a 40-50 mb pressure gradient with that storm, so it must've been pretty windy. I was working on a blizzard project a while back but gave it up due to the workload...anyway one of the storms I was working on was 1/12/1918. Here is the approximate track and strength at various points. Numbers could be a bit off since I converted from inches to mb but should be pretty close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowmanwx Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 1200 UTC 12 January 1918: -43 at Evansville (175 feet above ground at Citizens' Bank Building): 20 mph wind and -16°F 1200 UTC 12 January 1918: -49 at Indianapolis (232 feet above ground at Consolidated Building): 24 mph wind and -19°F 1200 UTC 12 January 1918: -53 at Fort Wayne (124 feet above ground at Shoaf Tri-State and Gettle Building): 30 mph wind and -20°F Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beavis1729 Posted November 22, 2012 Author Share Posted November 22, 2012 Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 2/9/1899: -42° (all time record low) estimated wind chill -65°. (new scale) Yikes...that is cold. That's a good idea to look at the Feb. 1899 cold wave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 1200 UTC 12 January 1918: -43 at Evansville (175 feet above ground at Citizens' Bank Building): 20 mph wind and -16°F 1200 UTC 12 January 1918: -49 at Indianapolis (232 feet above ground at Consolidated Building): 24 mph wind and -19°F 1200 UTC 12 January 1918: -53 at Fort Wayne (124 feet above ground at Shoaf Tri-State and Gettle Building): 30 mph wind and -20°F Thanks for the info. Where did you find it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Yikes...that is cold. That's a good idea to look at the Feb. 1899 cold wave. February 1936 might also be worth checking. It was ridiculously cold especially in the northern Plains/upper Midwest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 beavis, I found a wind chill of -58F for ORD on 12/24/1983. Temp was -25F with wind of 25 mph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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