Article from NWS Duluth
In late January 2019, a historic arctic outbreak brought bitterly cold wind chills and record-breaking cold temperatures to the Midwest. Many schools and some businesses and government offices were closed for three days, with USPS mail delivery even suspended on Wednesday, January 30th due to extremely dangerous wind chills. The coldest temperatures occurred on the morning on January 31st when Cotton, MN recorded a low of -56, approaching the Minnesota state record low of -60 set back in 1996.
https://twitter.com/NWSduluth/status/1090664086319386625
The low of -56 at Cotton, MN was the coldest temperature recorded in the Lower 48 for this entire period of cold weather!
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https://twitter.com/NWSWPC/status/1091048687000784898
https://twitter.com/ailworth/status/1090972314483781635
Related Web Pages:
- Minnesota State Climatology Office – Cold Outbreak: January 27-31, 2019
- Minnesota State Climatology Office – Minnesota Climate Extremes
- Minnesota State Climatology Office – Minnesota’s All-Time Record Low
- Minnesota State Climatology Office – Historic Wind Chill Temperatures in Minnesota
- WFO Twin Cities – Coldest Temperatures and Wind Chills Observed Jan 27-31
- WFO Grand Forks – Late January 2019 Extreme Cold Summary
- WFO La Crosse – Dangerous Cold of Jan 29-31, 2019
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Cold Record History
In the days before this arctic outbreak, meteorologists at the National Weather Service predicted that conditions could be favorable for record-setting cold, possibly approaching the Minnesota state record low of -60 set in Tower, MN in 1996. The Minnesota State Climatology office only considers observations from well-maintained weather stations official for the purpose of state records, which in the case of temperatures meant that only National Weather Service-installed and maintained equipment – automated “ASOS” weather stations found at some airports and volunteer National Weather Service cooperative (“co-op”) observers. Temperature observations from other platforms (many of which did not even exist in 1996), will not be considered because of potential data-quality control concerns, and the need to maintain continuity with the historical climatological database. Some of the observing platforms that will not be considered include AWOS, RWIS, RAWS, and commercially purchased “backyard” weather stations.
Because volunteer cooperative observer sites mostly consistent of private citizens who volunteer to report, these observation locations have changed slightly over time. In particular, the locations at two of our historically cold locations, Embarrass and Tower, MN, have changed since the late-January/early February extreme cold event in 1996. The co-op observers at that time have both since retired after many years of dedicated service. Therefore, the NWS recruited new co-op observers at both of these sites, but the current location of the observation sites in both Tower and Embarrass are slightly different than in 1996. The current observer at Cotton, MN is also different from the previous observation location. When moving co-op observing sites due to a volunteer observer retiring, every attempt is made to ensure the integrity of the site’s historical record, but inevitably, some sites do require relocation. It should be noted that this is not dissimilar to some of the main observing sites as well. For instance, the official Duluth, MN observing site has moved 3 times since the inception of observations in 1874.
Cotton, MN
In addition to slight changes in location and elevation, the equipment used to measure temperature at these locations has changed, but the National Weather Service has very high confidence in the accuracy and integrity of the equipment currently in use. In 1996, the observations were taken with mercury-in-glass thermometers in a shelter box. In 2019, the temperature observations have transitioned to modern high-accuracy digital thermometers which are now the standard across the National Weather Service national volunteer cooperative observing network. While we have very high confidence in the accuracy and integrity of these thermometers, they are, nonetheless, a different instrument than the mercury-in-glass thermometer standard used in 1996.
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