March 4, 2019 Record Cold

March Cold
Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Chicago IL
406 AM CST Wed Mar 6 2019 /506 AM EST Wed Mar 6 2019/

...March 4-5, 2019 Cold in Perspective...

The following are some numbers on the March 4-5 cold. March 4 was
record-breaking cold for the date and the first time seeing that
degree of cold in March in quite some time.

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MORNING LOW TEMPERATURE ON MARCH 4

While not a daily record, the subzero readings in March were
impressive especially considering no snow on the ground at both
official climate sites.

The low of -3 in Chicago was the coldest March temperature since
2002 (-7 on March 4) and tied for the 7th coldest March low
temperature on record.

This was the first subzero in Chicago in March with < 1 inch of
snow on the ground since 1943.

The low of -4 in Rockford was the coldest March temperature since
2015 (-5 on March 6).

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AFTERNOON HIGH TEMPERATURE ON MARCH 4

Daily Record Low Maximum Temperatures for March 4:

            2019    Previous Record
Chicago      12        17 (1890)
Rockford     10        14 (2002)

The last time a March high temperature this cold had been
observed in Chicago was 1943 (10 on March 2), and for Rockford was
2014 (9 on March 2).

This was tied for the 5th coldest March high temperature on record
in Chicago.

This was tied for the second coldest March high temperature on
record in Rockford:

Rank      High Temp        Date
 1.           9       March 2, 2014
 2.          10       March 4, 2019
             10       March 8, 1932

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Back to back highs below 20 were observed in Rockford on the 4th
and 5th, which was only the 9th time on record that had happened
in March.


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MTF
NWS Chicago Past Events Page