January 2019 Record Cold

New Year Cold Streak 2018 Graphic

An arctic air outbreak into the Midwest at the end of January 2019 brought extreme low temperatures and dangerous wind chills for several days. Numerous low temperature records were set across the area. The arctic front moved through Southeast Michigan on Tuesday, January 29 and temperatures fell to below zero by early Wednesday morning. In fact, the high temperatures for Wednesday in Detroit and Flint were recorded at midnight as temps remained below zero all day into Thursday. Detroit spent 36 consecutive hours below 0 - this was the longest such streak since Jan. 1994 (66 hours). Flint also spent 36 hours below 0. A tightened pressure gradient over the region and excellent mixing led to winds gusting over 35 mph at times from Tuesday night through Wednesday evening. The result was wind chills near or below -35 for numerous hours. A Wind Chill Warning was issued from Tuesday evening into Thursday afternoon, followed by a Wind Chill Advisory into Friday as the cold air lingered.