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…

 

https://twitter.com/NWSLaCrosse/status/1091959947896782848

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.

https://twitter.com/weatherchannel/status/1092884064292478976

https://twitter.com/WorldClimateSvc/status/1093616399627571201