Record-Breaking Cold: All-Time March Record Lows Set

Chris Dolce
Published: March 6,2015



 
All-time March record lows have been broken as one more shot of bitterly cold air plunges south in the wake of Winter Storm Thor. In addition to monthly record lows, dozens of daily record lows will be threatened into Saturday morning, and some cities have seen their coldest temperatures in decades for so late in the season.

Tracking the Front

24-Hour temperature change between Wednesday, March 4 and Thursday, March 5.

The cold snap follows persistent record-breaking cold across much of the Great Lakes and Northeast in February.
(MORE: Coldest February on Record | February's Siberian Express)
This latest round of arctic air is following right behind Winter Storm Thor. The snow cover left behind by Thor may play a role in just how cold temperatures will bottom out in some cities late this week.

Friday Records

All-Time March Record Low:
- Pittsburgh set its all-time March record low with 5 below zero (previous record was 1 below zero last set March 2, 1980)
- Paducah, Kentucky set its all-time March record low with a low of 6 below zero (previous record was 2 below zero in March 1960)
- Lexington, Kentucky tied its all-time March record low of 2 below zero (March 5-6, 1960)
- Urbana, Illinois set its all-time March record low with a low of 7 below zero
- Harrisburg, Pennsylvania set its all-time March record low as temperature of 0 degrees was recorded
Coldest So Late in the Season:
- Pittsburgh also set its coldest temperature there this late in the winter season with its low of 5 below zero
- Morgantown, West Virginia dropped to 3 below zero making it the coldest low temperature recorded so late in the season (previous record was 1 degrees on March 4, 2014)
Daily Record Lows (new record is in parentheses): Chicago (0 degrees), Cincinnati, Ohio (0 degrees), Toledo, Ohio (5 below zero), Detroit (0 degrees), Buffalo, New York (1 below zero), Montpelier, Vermont (16 below zero), Atlantic City, New Jersey (8 degrees), Washington, D.C. - Dulles International Airport (9 degrees), Baltimore (10 degrees), Charleston, West Virginia (5 degrees), Memphis, Tennessee (16 degrees),  Little Rock, Arkansas (17 degrees), Austin, Texas (21 degrees), Baton Rouge, Louisiana (26 degrees) and Huntsville, Alabama (16 degrees)
Louisville, Kentucky saw its first March single digit low since 1980 as temperatures dropped to 9 degrees.
How cold will it get as we close out the week? The latest forecast on the potential record cold on Saturday is below.

Saturday Forecast

• Lows: Below-average temperatures persist from the Gulf Coast to the Northeast. More than a dozen daily record lows will be threatened. Lows in the teens are expected in much of the Northeast, with some single digits in northern New England.
• Potential Daily Record Lows (record to beat is in parentheses): Washington, D.C. (13 degrees) | Baltimore (10 degrees) | Philadelphia (9 degrees) | Mobile, Alabama (29 degrees) | Baton Rouge, Louisiana (30 degrees)

Saturday Lows

Midweek Cold

Map showing the incredible temperature contrast in Mississippi and adjacent parts of Alabama, Tennessee and Arkansas around 1:30 pm CT on Wednesday. Tunica (37 degrees) and Aberdeen (81 degrees) in Mississippi are highlighted.

On Wednesday, the frigid air mass collided with mild conditions in the South to make for some incredible temperature contrasts across short distances. In Mississippi, temperatures at 1:30 p.m. CST ranged from 37 degrees in the town of Tunica to 81 degrees in Aberdeen. In Greenville, Mississippi, the temperature fell from 74 degrees to 53 degrees in just 11 minutes from 12:53 p.m. to 1:04 p.m. CST.
Thursday morning, subzero temperatures were reported in parts of the Dakotas, northeast Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, northern Illinois, Wisconsin and northern Michigan. Cotton, Minnesota dipped to minus 40 degrees, while lows of 33 below zero were recorded at Stambaugh and Spincich Lake in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Thursday afternoon featured another huge temperature gradient across the Southeast, with readings at 1:45 p.m. ET ranging from the 20s, 30s and 40s to the 80s. In Jackson, Mississippi, the 2 p.m. CST temperature was 81 degrees Wednesday; at the same time Thursday, it was 30 degrees.

PHOTOS: Winter Storm Thor