Mid-February 2021 Record Cold

Overview

A strong surge of Arctic air dropped south across the Plains during mid-February 2021. While areas of the Deep South were receiving crippling snow & ice storms, the Northern Plains saw multiple days of record cold. This included dangerously cold wind chills of -30 to -40 or colder at times.

Sub-freezing temperatures grip much of the nation on the morning of February 15, 2021

Frozen landscape at Falls Park in Sioux Falls, SD


Sub-freezing temperatures grip much of the nation on the morning of February 15, 2021	Another brutally cold morning in the nation's midsection, with sub-zero temperatures into northeast Texas - February 16, 2021

Record Cold
Coldest Wind Chills
Coldest Temperatures

Numerous New Records for Cold Low & High Temperatures February 13-15, 2021

The coldest air began to spread into the region on Saturday, February 13th, resulting in a few record cold high temperatures.

Valentine’s Day 2021 became the coldest on record since 1936 for several locations, easily breaking the record cold highs by several degrees.

These records are preliminary, but they illustrate how extensive the cold air was, especially from Valentine’s Day into the following night & early morning of the 15th, when record low temperatures were broken or tied in many of the same locations which saw record cold high temperatures the day before.

The cold snap started to ease by February 16th, but not before a few more records were tied/broken.

All in all, the preliminary data shows 22 sites in southeast SD, southwest MN, and northwest IA, with 1 or more new records, with 14 of those sites setting multiple new records from Feb 13-16, 2021.

Coldest Wind Chills Observed on February 15 and 16, 2021

Below are lists of the coldest wind chills reported for the mornings of February 15th (list with blue header) and 16th (map with yellow header). Reports would be the coldest observed over the previous 12 hours. This data is preliminary, and subject to revision after verification.

Coldest Temperatures Reported on February 15 and 16, 2021

Below are lists of the coldest actual air temperatures reported for the mornings of February 15th and 16th. Reports would be the coldest observed over the previous 12 hours. This data is preliminary, and subject to revision after verification.

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