Days Per Year of 90°> Where You Live

[Scott]

I believe the coldest air in UT and surrounding areas on the 5th-7th was simply the initial cold airmass lingering/stagnating in the Great Basin?

That does happen in places like Salt Lake City, Vernal, Grand Junction, and Gunnison, but it very rarely happens in places like St George, Denver, and Cheyenne. Almost every weather station I know of operating then in Utah, Colorado, and much of southern Wyoming had the coldest day on the 6th (by far the most common) or 7th, with northern Utah getting pretty cold on the 5th as well.

 

Really impressive numbers from UT in October 1971. I wasn't aware it was that cold out there.

One thing that was impressive is that most of the really cold readings, such as the ones above really aren't in known cold spots. Hanksville can get chilly in winter, but it is more known for heat than cold. The coldest readings were mostly in the desert region of southern Utah. Northern Utah did set record lows, even some monthly ones, but they weren't even close to the March and November lows and they didn't blow all other years out of the water. The next coldest October temperatures for places like Hanksville and Circleville are in the upper single digits. In Modena, the October 30 reading is the coldest before December 10. In Cicleville it's the coldest before December 8.

[wx_statman]

That does happen in places like Salt Lake City, Vernal, Grand Junction, and Gunnison, but it very rarely happens in places like St George, Denver, and Cheyenne. Almost every weather station I know of operating then in Utah, Colorado, and much of southern Wyoming had the coldest day on the 6th (by far the most common) or 7th, with northern Utah getting pretty cold on the 5th as well.

 

One thing that was impressive is that most of the really cold readings, such as the ones above really aren't in known cold spots. Hanksville can get chilly in winter, but it is more known for heat than cold. The coldest readings were mostly in the desert region of southern Utah. Northern Utah did set record lows, even some monthly ones, but they weren't even close to the March and November lows and they didn't blow all other years out of the water. The next coldest October temperatures for places like Hanksville and Circleville are in the upper single digits. In Modena, the October 30 reading is the coldest before December 10. In Cicleville it's the coldest before December 8.

 

We're definitely splitting hairs at this point. 

 

You're right that it looks as though the coldest air pushed into Denver and Cheyenne on the 5th-6th, but to me this is still the same airmass that produced the cold weather in the PNW on the 2nd-4th, or possibly something in between the two main surges of Arctic air. As you can see from Scottsbluff's numbers, the distinct second push (the "main event" east of the Rockies) didn't enter Nebraska until the 10th. This is of course the airmass that gave the deep South & SE US their historic cold wave. By this point Denver was seeing Chinook winds and highs in the 40's as a ridge of high pressure amplified over the West coast, sending the 2nd shot plunging southward through the plains. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

1971 was an incredible weather year here. Huge snows Jan-Mar and then the record cold in October. 1972 would be an awesome weather year too. 

[snow_wizard]

October 2002 doesn't fit the bill, IMO. It was a regional cold wave affecting the PNW, Rockies and Plains...like any winter cold wave to affect those regions normally would. The discussion is about those few, rare cold waves that are able to affect the Pacific and Atlantic coasts - at the same time - either simultaneously or virtually simultaneously. November 2014 actually accomplished that feat, as early season record lows were set from Redmond OR to Charlotte NC.

 

FYI, the coldest minimums of the year in October thing happens more often than you think. October 2002 definitely wasn't the only example. It also happened in 1925 in South Dakota, in October 1991 (in the same areas affected in 2002), October 1971 in the desert SW, and I'm sure some other examples. 

 

I think some places in this area had their coldest mins of the season in October 1991.  What a bitter disappointment that winter was after such an amazing October blast.  October blasts in Nino years are often poisonous for winter.

[snow_wizard]

The temp is still falling steadily here.  Currently 35.

[snow_wizard]

I see Feb 1899 was brought up also.  1898-99 was an amazing winter for Seattle.  Besides the impressive February blast there was a huge snowstorm and decently cold weather in late December through the first third of January.  That actually stands as the winter that holds the record for most consecutive days with 10 inches or more snow on the ground for Seattle.  Check out these stats.

 

4 inches or more snow on the ground for 13 consecutive days (Dec 29 - Jan 10)

 

10 inches or more snow on the ground for 10 consecutive days (Dec 31 - Jan 9)

 

Max depth = 17 inches

[Phil]

I know it affected the plains...but I don't think it was considered a severe cold wave on the East coast? Not to my knowledge anyway.

February 1989 was nothing special east of the mountains. Dropped to 8*F in my area, which is a pretty typical mid-winter cold wave. For reference, last winter was one of our warmest in recorded history, and it dropped to 10*F in both December and January.

 

A real cold wave here would be something like Jan 1994, which gave DCA a high of 7*F. Haven't seen many of those lately.

[wx_statman]

I see Feb 1899 was brought up also.  1898-99 was an amazing winter for Seattle.  Besides the impressive February blast there was a huge snowstorm and decently cold weather in late December through the first third of January.  That actually stands as the winter that holds the record for most consecutive days with 10 inches or more snow on the ground for Seattle.  Check out these stats.

 

4 inches or more snow on the ground for 13 consecutive days (Dec 29 - Jan 10)

 

10 inches or more snow on the ground for 10 consecutive days (Dec 31 - Jan 9)

 

Max depth = 17 inches

 

That was a truly impressive winter. The old Olympia station recorded 40.5" in DJF, and that's right on the water. Also fell to 5 in the Feb blast which means the modern OLM station would have probably gone subzero. 

[Front Ranger]

February 1989 was nothing special east of the mountains. Dropped to 8*F in my area, which is a pretty typical mid-winter cold wave. For reference, last winter was one of our warmest in recorded history, and it dropped to 10*F in both December and January.

 

A real cold wave here would be something like Jan 1994, which gave DCA a high of 7*F. Haven't seen many of those lately.

 

It still put up some impressive numbers on the plains. Rapid City, SD had 4 record cold highs in a row, including a -17 and -18. Those are their coldest highs on record, for any month.

 

Further east, Fargo, ND had a low of -33. There's only one time they've gotten colder later in the season. Minneapolis had a high of -13, the latest in the season they've seen a high that cold.

[Phil]

It still put up some impressive numbers on the plains. Rapid City, SD had 4 record cold highs in a row, including a -17 and -18. Those are their coldest highs on record, for any month.

 

Further east, Fargo, ND had a low of -33. There's only one time they've gotten colder later in the season. Minneapolis had a high of -13, the latest in the season they've seen a high that cold.

Sorry, I meant east of the Appalachians. Could've clarified that one better.

 

Arctic blasts centered in the Plains are usually too windy here to perform well in the temperature department, because the more westerly component to the winds parallels the ridges, such that downsloping adiabatically warms/dries the air and deepens the mixing layer. So we struggle to decouple, and sometimes the diurnal cycle will be completely nonexistent, even under clear skies, thanks to the high winds.

[Front Ranger]

Sorry, I meant east of the Appalachians. Could've clarified that one better.

 

Arctic blasts centered in the Plains are usually too windy here to perform well in the temperature department, because the more westerly component to the winds parallels the ridges, such that downsloping adiabatically warms/dries the air and deepens the mixing layer. So we struggle to decouple, and sometimes the diurnal cycle will be completely nonexistent, even under clear skies, thanks to the high winds.

 

Gotcha.

 

Yeah, it seem from as far as I can tell, Feb 1989 was a major blast for about 60% of the country. Historic for probably 40%. Slightly less west-centric than Dec 1990.

[BLI snowman]

December 1989 and December 1990 were really interesting in that they were almost mirror versions of one another, centered around the same exact days.

[wx_statman]

December 1989 and December 1990 were really interesting in that they were almost mirror versions of one another, centered around the same exact days.

 

It's hard to wrap my head around the fact that the Jan 1989 Alaska cold wave, Feb 1989, Dec 1989, and Dec 1990 happened within the space of two calendar years. Doesn't seem fair. 

[Scott]

January and March 1989 produced some historic cold records too, but no where near as wide spread as the February anf December cold snaps.

 

In much of the West at least, the March 1989 cold snap was followed by a historic easly season warm spell that set many early season heat records. Some of them still stand as March records even though the were set early in the month.

[BLI snowman]

It's hard to wrap my head around the fact that the Jan 1989 Alaska cold wave, Feb 1989, Dec 1989, and Dec 1990 happened within the space of two calendar years. Doesn't seem fair. 

 

Honestly doubt we'll see another airmass as impressive as those in our lifetimes.

[wx_statman]

January and March 1989 produced some historic cold records too, but no where near as wide spread as the February anf December cold snaps.

 

In much of the West at least, the March 1989 cold snap was followed by a historic easly season warm spell that set many early season heat records. Some of them still stand as March records even though the were set early in the month.

 

Do you mean April by chance? I know there was a tremendous early season heat wave around April 5th-7th in 1989 in the SW. Set many monthly records despite occurring only a week into the month. 

 

EDIT: I see, there was a record heatwave around March 9-10, 1989. I wasn't aware of that one. I'm surprised any of those monthly records would have survived 2004/2007/2015 in that region!

[wx_statman]

Honestly doubt we'll see another airmass as impressive as those in our lifetimes.

 

You never know. Dec 2013 happened after I had lost all hope for our region. 

[Front Ranger]

It's hard to wrap my head around the fact that the Jan 1989 Alaska cold wave, Feb 1989, Dec 1989, and Dec 1990 happened within the space of two calendar years. Doesn't seem fair. 

 

Plus March 1989, which was historic in its own right in some areas.

[Phil]

Honestly doubt we'll see another airmass as impressive as those in our lifetimes.

I'll take the over. By 2025.

[wx_statman]

Plus March 1989, which was historic in its own right in some areas.

 

Feb 1990 was fun in the west as well. Specifically regarding the four cold waves I listed, it's just crazy how much top-tier cold (by absolute measures) occurred within two calendar years. 

[Jesse]

Feb 1990 was fun in the west as well. Specifically regarding the four cold waves I listed, it's just crazy how much top-tier cold (by absolute measures) occurred within two calendar years.

I blame John Hughes films.

[wx_statman]

Speaking of Feb 1990, the 12th would have been a fun day to experience. 

 

https://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KPDX/1990/2/12/DailyHistory.html?req_city=&req_state=&req_statename=&reqdb.zip=&reqdb.magic=&reqdb.wmo=

 

Heavy snowband dropped 0.25" liquid equivalent between 11am and 1pm (probably 2-3"), followed by thundersnow and another 0.17" liquid equivalent between 8-9pm (probably 1.5" to 2" in an hour). Official total that day at PDX was 5.2" when factoring in the snowfall earlier that morning. 

 

A former coworker of mine once told me a story of going out to lunch on that day. The roads were fine when he stepped out, but it was total chaos by the time he finished eating. It changed that quickly. He ended up not going back to work that afternoon!

[wx_statman]

I blame John Hughes films.

 

In that case, I salute Mr. Hughes. 

[BLI snowman]

You never know. Dec 2013 happened after I had lost all hope for our region. 

 

That event proved top tier midwinter cold numbers could still occur, but it was hugely historic on a much smaller scale than 1989 or 1990. Not as cold of an upper level airmass, either. But yeah, no reason Portland or Seattle couldn't score a setup like what Eugene had in 2013.

[wx_statman]

That event proved top tier midwinter cold numbers could still occur, but it was hugely historic on a much smaller scale than 1989 or 1990. Not as cold of an upper level airmass, either. But yeah, no reason Portland or Seattle couldn't score a setup like what Eugene had in 2013.

 

Baby steps. The fact that we pulled off -10 in the Willamette Valley is still shocking to me, four years after it happened. Even a 0 reading seemed impossible given how the previous couple decades had gone. Feb 1989 & Dec 1990 are rather unfair barometers for the modern era, IMO. They would have been huge and historic even in the late 19th century. 

[BLI snowman]

Speaking of Feb 1990, the 12th would have been a fun day to experience. 

 

https://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KPDX/1990/2/12/DailyHistory.html?req_city=&req_state=&req_statename=&reqdb.zip=&reqdb.magic=&reqdb.wmo=

 

Heavy snowband dropped 0.25" liquid equivalent between 11am and 1pm (probably 2-3"), followed by thundersnow and another 0.17" liquid equivalent between 8-9pm (probably 1.5" to 2" in an hour). Official total that day at PDX was 5.2" when factoring in the snowfall earlier that morning. 

 

A former coworker of mine once told me a story of going out to lunch on that day. The roads were fine when he stepped out, but it was total chaos by the time he finished eating. It changed that quickly. He ended up not going back to work that afternoon!

 

That was a great month. Wet snow events on the 6th/7th, then a widespread 4-7" around the Portland metro with that storm going into the pseudo-arctic airmass, and then a major foothills snowstorm on the 15th that dropped 3-5" around suburban Portland and 8-12" in the hills.

 

Then the Olympia to Everett corridor got clocked with a deformation zone on the morning of the 17th which dropped a widespread 6-11", which was then followed by a Fraser River blast.

[wx_statman]

That was a great month. Wet snow events on the 6th/7th, then a widespread 4-7" around the Portland metro with that storm going into the pseudo-arctic airmass, and then a major foothills snowstorm on the 15th that dropped 3-5" around suburban Portland and 8-12" in the hills.

 

Then the Olympia to Everett corridor got clocked with a deformation zone on the morning of the 17th which dropped a widespread 6-11", which was then followed by a Fraser River blast.

 

Great info. I love that we got CAA on NW'erly winds on the 13th down here in Portland. Such a rare event in the modern era. It happened again on 12/28 that year but I don't think we saw another occurrence until Nov 2010. 

[BLI snowman]

Baby steps. The fact that we pulled off -10 in the Willamette Valley is still shocking to me, four years after it happened. Even a 0 reading seemed impossible given how the previous couple decades had gone. Feb 1989 & Dec 1990 are rather unfair barometers for the modern era, IMO. They would have been huge and historic even in the late 19th century. 

 

Definitely, but more on a sub-decadal scale IMO. I mean, you never had to go much more than 7-8 years to experience something pretty comparable to that in the 1800s here locally.

[BLI snowman]

Great info. I love that we got CAA on NW'erly winds on the 13th down here in Portland. Such a rare event in the modern era. It happened again on 12/28 that year but I don't think we saw another occurrence until Nov 2010. 

 

Yeah, on a weak scale it happened on 11/28/2006. PDX had a high of 37 that day but Scappoose was only 34 and Kelso only 32.

 

Also happened on 12/19/2008.

 

I remember both of those days the Fraser River outflow pretty much dying over my doorstep. I had some light frontal snow with the switch to NW winds in 2006, and in 2008 we had light 32F snow most of the day in Clark County with a NW breeze before the big low offshore triggered the gorge winds later that night.

[wx_statman]

Definitely, but more on a sub-decadal scale IMO. I mean, you never had to go much more than 7-8 years to experience something pretty comparable to that in the 1800s here locally.

I agree. Those kinds of cold waves definitely occurred more frequently back then. We’ve also never replicated, on a regional scale, cold waves like 1875 or 1888. So the peak has flattened as well.

[wx_statman]

Yeah, on a weak scale it happened on 11/28/2006. PDX had a high of 37 that day but Scappoose was only 34 and Kelso only 32.

 

Also happened on 12/19/2008.

 

I remember both of those days the Fraser River outflow pretty much dying over my doorstep. I had some light frontal snow with the switch to NW winds in 2006, and in 2008 we had light 32F snow most of the day in Clark County with a NW breeze before the big low offshore triggered the gorge winds later that night.

True, but like you’re saying neither was a full-on Arctic airmass incursion advected on NW winds.

[DareDuck]

Baby steps. The fact that we pulled off -10 in the Willamette Valley is still shocking to me, four years after it happened. Even a 0 reading seemed impossible given how the previous couple decades had gone. Feb 1989 & Dec 1990 are rather unfair barometers for the modern era, IMO. They would have been huge and historic even in the late 19th century.

I lived in a poorly insulated house during that -10. Pretty sure inside my house was just above freezing that morning. We tried sealing all the windows and doors but you could still feel that frigid air pouring in.

[Guest happ]

Halloween snowfall anyone?

 

 

[Phil]

Halloween snowfall anyone?

Noooo! October snowfall is a curse here. We've never had a snowier than average winter following October snowfall, going back to (at least) to the end of the 19th century.

 

Last time it happened was 2011, and that was perhaps the most frustrating winter of my life.

[Guest happ]

Noooo! October snowfall is a curse here. We've never had a snowier than average winter following October snowfall, going back to (at least) to the end of the 19th century.

 

Last time it happened was 2011, and that was perhaps the most frustrating winter of my life.

 

The map looks so cool and a far cry from reality so far this month. 

[wx_statman]

Noooo! October snowfall is a curse here. We've never had a snowier than average winter following October snowfall, going back to (at least) to the end of the 19th century.

 

Last time it happened was 2011, and that was perhaps the most frustrating winter of my life.

 

Hell of an early season snowstorm though. Up to 29" in Mass and 24" in CT. Unreal for October. 

[Phil]

Hell of an early season snowstorm though. Up to 29" in Mass and 24" in CT. Unreal for October.

Yeah, if we'd recieved that much snow, I'd have been fine with the blowtorch that followed. I only got around 1", though, and it ended up being my biggest snowfall of that entire winter. Meh.

[wx_statman]

Yeah, if we'd recieved that much snow, I'd have been fine with the blowtorch that followed. I only got around 1", though, and it ended up being my biggest snowfall of that entire winter. Meh.

 

Well, that's pretty sad then. 

[Phil]

Right on que, the GFS has flakes flying here 10/26. Would effectively preclude a good winter..

 

#OctoberSnowCurse

[wx_statman]

Right on que, the GFS has flakes flying here 10/26. Would effectively preclude a good winter..

 

#OctoberSnowCurse

 

There's always hope.

 

#1962