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Temperature Extremes That Will Never be Equalled or Broken...


erik1974

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      I have been thinking about this alot recently and have been wondering... What are some all-time and/or monthly temperature extremes, etc. that will most likely never be broken??  I have a few very strong candidates myself:

 

      121 degrees at Steele, ND on 7/6/1936

      116 at Collegeville, IN on 7/14/1936

      112 at Mio, MI on 7/13/1936

      121 at Red Bluff, CA on 8/5/1981

      119 at Willow Creek, CA  7/14/1972

      

      -53 at Lincoln 14NE, MT on 11/16/1959

      -37 at Shelbyville, KY on 1/19/1994

      -27 at New Market, AL on 1/30/1966

      

The May 1934 Upper Midwest Freak Heat Wave actually deserves its own section altogether...

 

Please feel free to chime in!!

 

 

      

      

           

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-10F in Tillamook, Oregon (Dec 2013)

Springfield, Oregon regular season 2023-24 Stats:

  • Coldest high: 25F (Jan 14, 2024)
  • Coldest low: 20F (Jan 14, 2024)
  • Days with below freezing temps: 24 (Most recent: Mar 8, 2024)
  • Days with sub-40F highs: 4 (Most recent: Jan 16, 2024)
  • Total snowfall: 0.0"
  • Total ice: 2.25”
  • Last accumulating snowfall on roads: Dec 27, 2021 (1.9")
  • Last sub-freezing high: Jan 15, 2024 (27F)
  • Last White Christmas: 1990
  • Significant wind events (gusts 45+): 0

Personal Stats:

  • Last accumulating snowfall on roads: Dec 27, 2021
  • Last sub-freezing high: Jan 16, 2024 (32F)
  • Last White Christmas: 2008
  • Total snowfall since joining TheWeatherForums: 42.0"
  • Sub-freezing highs since joining TheWeatherForums: 4

 

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           I would say there are an equal amount of hot and cold records that will never be broken, mostly from the 1930s. The July 1936 and May 1934 heatwaves are something truly incredible to be sure.  Here is my personal list of heat/coldwaves that will most likely never be broken or equaled:

 

 

1.  May 1934 Upper Midwest heat wave - 109 in Wisconsin, 110 in Missouri, 111 in Iowa and ND, 112 in Minn, 113 in SD.

     What's most amazing about this one is that many stations in IA/MN/WI and Eastern ND/SD have still not gotten that hot even in June!!!

 

2.  July/Aug. 1936 Central/Eastern heat wave - The Grandaddy of all summer heatwaves, it's as simple as that.  Heat records set in 17 states from Great Plains/Great Lakes to Mid-Atlantic.  These records are not quite as unassailable as the May 1934 records though imo.

 

3.  February 2018 New England 'heat wave' - 80 degrees in CT/MA, 79 in NY, 83 in NJ/PA, 77 in VT/NH.  Records absolutely shattered already impressive Feb. 2017 warmup.  This one was more localized than the previous year, but records are far more out of reach in New England.

 

4. February 1933 Northwest cold wave -  -54 in Oregon, -63 in Wyoming, -66 in Montana.  The -54 in Seneca and Ukiah Oregon are especially noteworthy.  Extremely likely to never be equaled or broken.   December 1968 was an impressive event, but far more localized.  

 

5.  February 1936 Great Plains cold wave - -60 in ND, -58 in SD, -50s in much of E. Montana.  The cold equivalent of the July 1936 heat wave, but more localized.  Good luck seeing any of those records broken...   Jan. 1916 deserves mention as well in this same area.  

 

6.  June 1994 Southwest heat wave - 126 in AZ, 118 in NM,125 in NV and 120 in W. Texas and possibly 120 at Tipton, OK.  There are disputed readings of 128 and 122 in AZ and NM respectively.  Nevada broke its all-time high by 3 degrees in Laughlin. 

 

7.   March 1971 Oklahoma 'heat wave' - 103 and 104 readings at Altus and Frederick are very impressive to be sure.  The 104 at Frederick beats out all but a few locations in the desert SW for March heat!!

 

8.  March 1998 East Coast heat wave - 92 in CT/MA, 91 in NY, 89 in NH/ME, 88 in VT, 95 in MD(97 in Baltimore is disputed).  A truly phenomenal event which will probably never be topped...

 

9.  December 1998 East Coast 'heat wave' - The December equivalent of the Mar. 1998 event.  77 in NY/CT, 78 in MA, 76 in NH, 75 in ME, 82 in MD(85 at Baltimore is disputed), 85 in VA, 86 in NC.  

 

10.  January 1966 Alabama/Miss. cold wave.  This one should probably be a bit higher.  -27 in AL and -19 in MS shattered previous readings and are a truly phenomenal event.  -27 in Alabama absolutely shattered old reading of -18 in Feb. 1905.  That cold wave could easily qualify in this list as well, but I am only listing 10 events...

 

    Let me know what you all think...

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I would say there are an equal amount of hot and cold records that will never be broken, mostly from the 1930s. The July 1936 and May 1934 heatwaves are something truly incredible to be sure. Here is my personal list of heat/coldwaves that will most likely never be broken or equaled:

 

 

1. May 1934 Upper Midwest heat wave - 109 in Wisconsin, 110 in Missouri, 111 in Iowa and ND, 112 in Minn, 113 in SD.

What's most amazing about this one is that many stations in IA/MN/WI and Eastern ND/SD have still not gotten that hot even in June!!!

 

2. July/Aug. 1936 Central/Eastern heat wave - The Grandaddy of all summer heatwaves, it's as simple as that. Heat records set in 17 states from Great Plains/Great Lakes to Mid-Atlantic. These records are not quite as unassailable as the May 1934 records though imo.

 

3. February 2018 New England 'heat wave' - 80 degrees in CT/MA, 79 in NY, 83 in NJ/PA, 77 in VT/NH. Records absolutely shattered already impressive Feb. 2017 warmup. This one was more localized than the previous year, but records are far more out of reach in New England.

 

4. February 1933 Northwest cold wave - -54 in Oregon, -63 in Wyoming, -66 in Montana. The -54 in Seneca and Ukiah Oregon are especially noteworthy. Extremely likely to never be equaled or broken. December 1968 was an impressive event, but far more localized.

 

5. February 1936 Great Plains cold wave - -60 in ND, -58 in SD, -50s in much of E. Montana. The cold equivalent of the July 1936 heat wave, but more localized. Good luck seeing any of those records broken... Jan. 1916 deserves mention as well in this same area.

 

6. June 1994 Southwest heat wave - 126 in AZ, 118 in NM,125 in NV and 120 in W. Texas and possibly 120 at Tipton, OK. There are disputed readings of 128 and 122 in AZ and NM respectively. Nevada broke its all-time high by 3 degrees in Laughlin.

 

7. March 1971 Oklahoma 'heat wave' - 103 and 104 readings at Altus and Frederick are very impressive to be sure. The 104 at Frederick beats out all but a few locations in the desert SW for March heat!!

 

8. March 1998 East Coast heat wave - 92 in CT/MA, 91 in NY, 89 in NH/ME, 88 in VT, 95 in MD(97 in Baltimore is disputed). A truly phenomenal event which will probably never be topped...

 

9. December 1998 East Coast 'heat wave' - The December equivalent of the Mar. 1998 event. 77 in NY/CT, 78 in MA, 76 in NH, 75 in ME, 82 in MD(85 at Baltimore is disputed), 85 in VA, 86 in NC.

 

10. January 1966 Alabama/Miss. cold wave. This one should probably be a bit higher. -27 in AL and -19 in MS shattered previous readings and are a truly phenomenal event. -27 in Alabama absolutely shattered old reading of -18 in Feb. 1905. That cold wave could easily qualify in this list as well, but I am only listing 10 events...

 

Let me know what you all think...

I’ll bet you the December 1998 event gets topped here, perhaps in the relatively near future. We’ve been great at blowtorching during the fall and early winter in recent years. September is just another summer month now, where-as it used to be a legitimate transition month like April.

 

And December is becoming just another autumn month, where-as it used to be one of our most prolific winter weather months. Epic snows and cold waves permeated our Decembers back in the 19th century.

 

February - April, on the other hand, have been trending the other way, breaking loads of cold/snow records even in the face of UHI.

 

The 1930 heatwave, however, is unlikely to be topped here anytime soon. That was a complete beast..we haven’t even topped 100*F in 5 out of the last 6 years (super high heat index values aside) let alone string together nearly 2 weeks of said 100’s.

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Some locations that come to mind that haven’t been mentioned yet (though some of the events were mentioned.    

 

2/1899

 

-2 at Tallahassee Florida on 2/13/1899

-16 at Minden Louisiana on 2/13/1899

7 at New Orleans on 2/13/1899

 

3/1906

 

-50 at Snake River Wyoming on 3/17/1906 (second coldest temperature on record)

-49 at Jackson Wyoming on 3/17/1906 (third coldest temperature on record)

 

4/1923

 

-34 a Bergland Michigan on 3/31/1923 or 4/1/1923

-30 at Humboldt Michigan on 4/1/1923

 

2/1933

 

-30 at Salt Lake City on 2/9/1933

 

2/1934

 

-15 at New York City on 2/9/1934

 

2/1943

 

-39 at Portland Maine on 2/16/1943

 

11/1955

 

6 at Seattle on 11/15/1955

 -14 at Salt Lake City on  11/16/1955

 

3/1962

 

-35 at Horton Iowa on 3/1/1962 (coldest temperature on record)

-34 at Waterloo Iowa on 3/1/1962 (coldest temperature on record)

 

1/1975

 

15 at Mauna Kea Hawaii on 1/5/1975 (the weather station is no longer operating, so Hawaii’s record probably won’t be broken anytime soon)

 

2/1985

 

-61 at Maybell Colorado on 2/1/1985 (near my house, but I don’t think that it will happen again)

 

9/1985

 

17 at Denver on 9/29/1985

8 at Cheyenne on 9/30/1985

 

11/1985

 

7 at Quillayute on 11/23/1985 (all time record low)

-22 at Spokane on 11/23/1985

-----

 

2/1899, 7/1902, 2/1905, 2/1933, 2/1936, 11/1950, 11/1955, 11/1985, etc. all have a lot of cold records that likely won't be broken again.

 

==================================================================

 

7/1913 (never happened)

 

134 at Death Valley California on 7/10/1913-actually it never happened in the first place, but I doubt that such a temperature will ever be recorded, at least in my lifetime. 

 

2/1930

 

85 at Eureka California on 2/17/1930 (all time record high before 9/20/1983. 4th hottest temperature on record in 122 years.   All time July record is only 77)

 

4/1952

 

93 at International Falls on 4/27/1952

 

4/1976

 

98 at Providence Rhode Island on 4/19/1976 (hottest temperature on record before 7/4)

92 at Block Island Rhode Island COOP on 4/19/1976 (hottest temperature on record at that particular location)

 

5/1977

 

96 at Caribou Maine on 5/22/1977 (hottest temperature on record)

 

4/1980

 

100 at Fargo North Dakota on 4/21/1980

100 at Waterloo Iowa on 4/22/1980

 

3/1984

 

106 at Brownsville Texas on 3/27/1984 (all time record high)

 

6/1995

 

99 at International Falls on 6/17/1995 and 6/18/1995 (this record might not be unbreakable, but what was most impressive is that International Falls was the hottest place in the entire country then.   I don’t think that has ever happened before or since and it seems unlikely to happen again).

 

10/2015

 

97 at Fargo North Dakota and Moorhead Minnesota on 10/11/2015

 

-------

 

7/1936, 7/1937, 5/1934, 2/1996, 6/1988, 6/1990, 6/1994, 9/2000, 3/2012, etc. have a lot of high temperature records that will likely not be broken anytime soon.

 

==================================================================

 

This isn’t temperature record, but I don’t think it will be broken:

 

22” of snow at Houston Texas on 2/15/1895.  This beats the 24 hour snowfall records of places such as Chicago!

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The 1890s were freakin’ outrageous for winter weather.

 

That 1898/99 winter was especially nutty. Truly a LIA throwback with coast-to-coast epicness. Must have been some steroidal blocking.

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       Thanks Scott for bringing up even more stuff.  The Feb. 1899 cold spell has been topped in some areas but not in others, especially the Deep South.  The March 1962 readings in Iowa are very strong candidates as well.   The -30 at Humboldt on 4/1/1923 is very impressive.  It reached -27 exactly one year later.  Iron River actually recorded -24 on 4/8/2018, but I don't think -30 will happen in this area in April again...

 

      The -39 at Portland AP, Maine is truly phenomenal if it truly is legit btw.  

 

The 134 at Death Valley is bogus, but I do think a 130 degree temp. could have been legitimately recorded in July 1905 if there was a station back then.  They also could have recorded as high as 124 degrees in May 1910 as well...   We will never know though...

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Here are some more little known, but very impressive cold snaps (I'll scereenshot the stations since it shows how much the readings stand out).   They aren't very well known since they were most impressive in the rural areas and the most impressive readings were localized. 

 

10/30/1971 in Utah (see how low the October record lows are compared to those in November and March):

 

modena.JPG

 

 

circleville.JPG

 

 

antimony.JPG

 

 

9/18/1965 in SW Wyoming and NE Utah (See how September record low compares to April, May, and October.   This was in mid September rather than late September as well):  

 

 

rock springs.JPG

 

11/76 in Texas and New Mexico was another really impressive one.  

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Here's another record I don't think will be broken anytime soon:

 

4.2 inches of snow in Denver on 9/3/1961.  That's less than 3 and a half weeks away!  More than three feet of snow fell in parts of Colorado.  

        Impressive!  Most impressive!   Is that the earliest snowfall in Denver history??

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Yes.  In the foothills, 8" of snow fell and in some mountains more than three feet.  

     Pretty crazy stuff to be sure.  I forgot to mention the 2/13/1905 coldwave in Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas is probably another strong candidate that will never be topped.  -40 at Warsaw, MO and -29 at Gravette, AR is absolutely incredible!!

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Pretty sure Houston will never see another February 1895. Was just reading back up on this one and it truly was a mindblowing anomaly, even for the time

 

https://spacecityweather.com/houston-snow-1895-galveston/

Fascinating. Looking at that weather map, you can see the confluence to the NE and the lack of a subtropical high.

 

So there must have been a massive Greenland block there..likely even stronger than 2009/10 or anything else on the modern era, based on the southwestward displacement of the confluence and latitude of cyclogenesis.

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Not 100% temperature related, but the Great Snow of 1717 is probably one of the benchmark winter events.

 

Just a few decades after the close of the maunder minimum.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Snow_of_1717

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  • 2 weeks later...

Here is a lesser known, but very impressive cold snap that will probably never be equaled.  It was on 6/11/1972 and effected much of the Midwest and Ohio River Valley, but the most impressive readings were in northern Ohio.

 

Cleveland, for example, hit 31 degrees on 6/11/1972.  This is not only by far the coldest June reading, but the coldest reading recorded there anytime between 5/16 and 10/3.  

 

Several cities and towns in Ohio recorded their only June frost on record.  Some of those places haven't had any other frost later than mid-May, nearly a month before.  The Cleveland reading is also equal to or colder than the June records in several locations in colder regions such as parts of Minnesota and North Dakota.   

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There have been several well known March heatwaves in recent decades; namely 1986 (Midwest), 1998 (Northeast), and 2012 (Midwest), but the early part of the 20th Century had some equally impressive ones.  The March 1910 heatwave probably produced the most impressive March readings in the US, with 100's as far north as Nebraska and into the 90's as far north as North Dakota!

 

Here are some impressive March heat waves in the early part of the 20th Century.  These were the state records recorded in each heat wave.

 

March 1907 (South, Midwest, Plains, and East side of Rocky Mountains)

 

99 at Brunswick Georgia (as warm as state April record)

100 at Southern Pine North Carolina (was warm as state April record)

96 at Portsmouth Ohio (1 degree from state April record)

92 at Everett Pensylvania

99 at Blackville South Carolina (as warm as state April record)

96 at Arvonia Virginia

94 at Romney West Virgina

86 at Pine Bluff Wyoming

 

March 1910 (Plains and western Midwest)

 

100 at Horton Kansas

89 at Lapeer Michigan (tied in 2012 at Wellston)

88 at Montevideo Minnesota

88 at Miles City Montana

101 (!) at Grant Nebraska

90 (!) at Edmore North Dakota

 

88 at Kennewick Washington (?).  May be over exposed.  

 

 

March 1929 (Plains to Appilachians and South)

 

98 at Harrison Arkansas (1 degree from state April record)

94 at Harrisburg Illinois

91 at Madison Indiana

94 at Hopkinsville Kentucky

95 at Ruston Louisiana (may be breakable)

96 at Macon Mississippi (1 degree from state April record)

94 at Clarksville Tennessee

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