At the peak of the polar vortex invasion of 2019, much of Minnesota endured it’s coldest conditions since 1996 while Illinois saw their coldest since 1985.
Cotton, Minnesota plunged to -56F, Twin Cities -28F, Chicago -23F. Daytime highs only managed -10F in Chicago, -14 Twin Cities.
At least four locations with long-term periods of record tied or set all-time record lows on Wednesday and Thursday, January 30-31:
- –33°F in Moline, Illinois, shattered the all-time record low of –28°F from Feb. 3, 1996 on Thursday, in records dating to 1874. (The all-time low from 1996 was actually broken just before midnight on Wednesday night, with temperatures dropping further early Thursday.)
- –31°F in Rockford, Illinois, on Thursday beat the previous record of –27°F from Jan. 10, 1982, in records dating to 1893.
- –30°F in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Thursday beat the previous all-time record of –29°F from Jan. 15, 2009, in records dating to 1893.
- –43°F northwest of Mather, Wisconsin, on Wednesday tied the all-time low from Jan. 30, 1951, in records dating to 1903.
Coldest for Minneapolis since 1996.
Then came the warmth…
Temperatures early this morning are anywhere from 25 to 35°F warmer than this time last night. Now where are those lawn chairs? 🙂 pic.twitter.com/apARsHabQ8
— NWS La Crosse (@NWSLaCrosse) February 3, 2019
Though the core of cold remained west, the frigid air still made it to the East Coast with New York hitting 2 degrees and Philly 5.
Then came the wave of record warmth! An astonishing turnaround in such a short time.
What a difference four days can make. The Northeast went from record lows last Wednesday and Thursday to record highs early this week as temperatures rose more than 60 degrees: https://t.co/LOrrz4nDFq pic.twitter.com/aIQh1LxONb
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) February 5, 2019
Atlanta has tied its all-time record for winter (Dec-Feb) warmth today at 80°F (data back to 1930). Previously 80°F occurred in Atlanta on Feb 26 1996 and Feb 15 1989.
— WorldClimateService (@WorldClimateSvc) February 7, 2019
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