The Cold Outbreak of December 1989

St. Louis, Missouri	The Cold Air Outbreak December 1989
Some of the coldest temperatures in the history of the area were observed just before Christmas in 1989. The cold temperatures combined with 10 to 20 mph winds to cause an extended period of bitterly cold wind chills. Wind chills stayed below zero for over three days during this period, with many of these hours staying below -15°F. Only January 15th-19th 1977 and December 21st-26th, 1983 have had longer stretches of sub zero wind chills in the past four decades. Actual low temperatures on the morning of the 22nd dropped down into the teens and twenties below zero, including -29°F at Steelville in Crawford County, Missouri and -28°F at Weldon Spring in St. Charles County, Missouri. Daily record low temperatures were set on the 20th, 21st, 22nd, and 23rd at Quincy as well as 21st, 22nd, and 23rd at both St. Louis and Columbia that still stand today. Temperatures did not rise much during this period, with afternoon highs not even climbing above zero at many locaitons including St. Louis on the 22nd. The cold did not last too long though as the high temperature on Christmas Day climbed to 42°F and January 1990 was the second warmest on record.
DEC 20 DEC 21 DEC 22 DEC 23 DEC 24 DEC 25 HI/LOW HI/LOW HI/LOW HI/LOW HI/LOW HI/LOW QUINCY 17/-14 4/-18 -6/-22 2/-21 20/-2 40/15 COLUMBIA 25/-1 10/-15 -5/-20 3/-19 23/2 41/22 ST. LOUIS 20/3 14/-12 -1/-16 5/-15 24/1 42/22 FARMINGTON 28/-7 10/-13 1/-16 10/-16 17/-3 43/17 COLDEST # OF HOURS # OF HOURS # OF HOURS WIND CHILL WIND CHILL WIND CHILL WIND CHILL <0°F <-15°F <-25°F ST. LOUIS -37 80 59 38 COLUMBIA -42 70 65 51 QUINCY -41 87 73 57

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The Cold Outbreak of December 1989

The Cold Air Outbreak December 1989

The Cold Air Outbreak
December 1989