Coldest Temperatures of the Season May Break Records in the Northeast

Linda Lam
Published: February 16, 2015

Since late last week, two surges of arctic air have kept the central and eastern United States shivering.
Some locations saw their coldest temperatures so far this winter with the second surge of arctic air on Sunday. On Monday morning, the bitter cold air mass will threaten many daily record lows in the Northeast and Great Lakes. Wind chills will also be dangerously cold into Monday, dipping into the teens, 20s and 30s below zero at times.
The latest forecast details on this cold blast are below.

Second Bitter Blast: Into Monday

Sunday morning, widespread subzero lows were observed in much of the Great Lakes region.
Detroit reached its lowest temperature of the winter so far, dipping to 9 degrees below zero. Pittsburgh also saw its coldest low temperature of the season at minus 4 degrees.
Buffalo, New York recorded a low of 7 degrees below zero at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, making it the coldest low temperature there since January 2011. In addition, the high temperature in Buffalo of 2 degrees at midnight on Sunday was the coldest high temperature in the city since January of 1994.
Monday morning now looks to be the coldest morning for the Northeast Corridor, with lows in the single digits from Washington, D.C. to Boston. At this time, temperatures Monday morning are forecast to be the coldest so far this winter in New York City and Philadelphia. Our forecast low of 2 degrees in New York City would be the coldest low temperature there since January 2004.
Daily record lows will also be threatened Monday morning in about 30 locations across the Northeast and Great Lakes. Below are a few of the cities where our current forecast low is close to the daily record shown in parenthesis.
- Monday: Baltimore (5) | New York City (1) | Toledo, Ohio (-8) | Syracuse, New York (-10)
Wind chills will also be a major concern in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Wind chill warnings and advisories have been posted for much of the Northeast into Monday. Wind chill values, or what the temperatures feels like, will be in the teens, 20s and 30s below zero at times into Monday, and that could make frostbite a concern.
Temperatures Monday afternoon will remain below average from the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and Mississippi Valley to the Northeast. Highs are likely to be 20 or more degrees below average from parts of Missouri to Maine.
Signs are also pointing to yet another blast of bitterly cold air for the Midwest, Northeast and South in the new week ahead.
(MAPS: 10-Day Forecast Highs/Lows)

First Bitter Blast: Recap Through Friday

The first arctic plunge began to ooze into the northern Plains on Wednesday, where daytime highs did not rise out of the single digits in parts of North Dakota and northern Minnesota. In fact, Garrison, North Dakota's high on Wednesday only reached 9 degrees, and gusty northwesterly winds made the temperature feel as cold as 20 degrees below zero.
On Thursday morning, parts of the northern Plains and Upper Midwest saw subzero low temperatures. International Falls, Minnesota recorded a low temperature of 28 degrees below zero, which equals the coldest low temperature so far this winter in the city. Minneapolis dipped to three degrees below zero with a wind chill near 20 degrees below zero.
The cold continued in the Midwest and Great Lakes on Thursday, when thermometers failed to top 17 degrees in Chicago. This is a full 17 degrees below the average high for February 12.
The bitterly cold temperatures spread south and east on Friday. Watertown, New York dropped to 32 degrees below zero on Friday morning, setting a daily record low.
Highs were at least 10 degrees below average almost everywhere east of the Mississippi River on Friday, with highs 20 to 30 degrees below average over upstate New York and adjacent parts of neighboring states. High temperatures were only in the single digits and teens from the northern and eastern Great Lakes region to New England and areas in between, including much of northern Pennsylvania.
If you are hoping to escape the cold by heading to Florida on vacation this holiday weekend, unfortunately you will find chilly low temperatures, but at least it will be warmer than the Northeast.
On Friday morning even the Deep South felt the chill, as readings sank into the low 30s as far south as the Florida Panhandle and northern parts of the Florida Peninsula. Freeze warnings and hard freeze warnings were posted for northern portions of the Florida Peninsula and southeastern Georgia.
Although most of the Southeast saw a temperature rebound Saturday afternoon, a fast moving cold front ushered in a reinforcing blast of cold air Saturday night.
Meteorologists Jonathan Erdman and Chris Dolce contributed to this report.
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