The Coldest Day/Month Ever in Grand Forks, ND

With a morning low of -39° and an afternoon HIGH of -30°, the average temperature of -34.5° on January 22, 1936 was the coldest day ever recorded in Grand Forks, ND (1893-2010). The morning surface map above depicts a 1035mb high pressure nosing into the Red River Valley, behind an Arctic cold front located from the eastern Great Lakes, through the Ohio Valley, then westward to the central Plains. Aiding the cold temperatures was a snow albedo caused by a 15" snow depth on 1/22/1936, as shown below on the monthly weather record form.

There have been colder low temperatures than -39°, as temperatures have reached -40° or colder eleven times here in GFK. However, the high of -30° is an all-time record low maximum temperature. The next coldest high temperature recorded was on February 1st, 1996 with a high of -27°. The morning low that day was -40°, making it the second coldest day ever in Grand Forks.

An interesting footnote from the January 1936 monthly observation form; the weather observer noted this was the coldest month ever at Grand Forks. The average high that month was 0.4°, the average low was -20.6°, giving a mean monthly temperature of -10.1°. That record still stands (and by a wide margin for meteorological standards), as the next coldest January occurred in 1950, with a mean monthly temperature of -6.8°. I can not fathom having to endure a month like January 1936.

The Coldest Days of my Life

Wednesday, January 18th and Thursday January 19th are now the coldest days of my life, with average temperatures of -8° and -8.5°, respectively. The 18th felt colder thanks to a persistent wind chill of -30° to -35° (also a personal record). Those were also the first times in my life where the temperature failed to warm above zero. Today's high of 23° wasn't even worthy of zipping up my coat after last week's cold weather! Undoubtedly, the aforementioned records will be broken again this winter.

Breaking Records

The morning of Friday the 13th, I experienced my coldest temperature ever of -10°F. That broke the -9°F I experienced in Shawnee, KS on February 3rd, 2011. Without a doubt that record will be broken many more times this winter, now that real Dakota winter temperatures have arrived. It is currently 7°F and we will drop below zero this evening. It's quite possible we may not go back above zero for another four days! High temperatures the next three days are expected to be around zero, with overnight lows anywhere from -5 to -15. The coldest high temperature I have ever felt was 6°F on February 5th, 2007 in California, PA. So that record will be broken a couple times this week as well.

Dakota Downslope

Since my last post, we tied a record high on the 3rd, then shattered a record high by 5 degrees on the 5th. Impressive considering we have had a snow pack, but it goes to show what a strong enough downsloping wind out of the west can do. Most think of a southerly wind as a warming wind, and for the most part it is, but here in the Plains, a downsloping westerly wind is key to significant warming. Here is a good example from the 5th:

Through morning, winds were out of the west-southwest allowing for a much warmer than normal morning. Then for a brief period, winds switched to the south and the temperature dropped from 43° to 39° in an hour. Winds then switched back to the southwest and eventually west, allowing for warming once again to an eventual record high of 47°. Downslope winds were more prominent in western North Dakota, where some locations reached the low 60s for highs.

December 2011 Climate Data

Day	High	Low	Dep.	Precip.	Snow
1	26	9	+1	0.00”	0.0”
2	39	19	+12	0.00"	0.0"
3	32	21	+11	Trace	Trace
4	21	9	-1	Trace	Trace
5	11	-3	-11	Trace	Trace
6	28	1	0	0.00"	0.0"
7	36	13	+11	Trace	Trace
8	21	5	-1	0.00"	0.0"
9	18	-1	-5	0.00"	0.0"
10	38	10	+11	0.00"	0.0"
11	41	15	+15	0.00"	0.0"
12	24	14	+7	0.00"	0.0"
13	30	16	+11	0.00"	0.0"
14	34	26	+18	Trace	Trace
15	31	11	+10	Trace	Trace
16	21	10	+5	Trace	0.1"
17	35	11	+12	0.00"	0.0"
18	51R	20	+26	0.00"	0.0"
19	29	12	+11	0.00"	0.0"
20	42	14	+18	0.00"	0.0"
21	33	23	+18	Trace	Trace
22	32	12	+13	Trace	Trace
23	32	8	+11	0.00"	0.0"
24	41	6	+15	0.00"	0.0"
25	44	25	+26	0.00"	0.0"
26	49R	22	+28	0.00"	0.0"
27	22	4	+5	Trace	Trace
28	36	11	+16	0.11"	1.4"
29	30	3	+9	Trace	Trace
30	25	21	+8	0.31"	4.4"
31	36	24	+22	0.12"	0.8"
Dec. 2011	31.9	12.6	+10.7	0.54”	6.7”

Average High: 31.9°F [Departure from Normal: +11.9°F]
Average Low: 12.6°F [Departure from Normal: +9.4°F]
Mean Temperature: 22.2°F [Departure From Normal: +10.7°F]

Total Precipitation: 0.54" [Departure from Normal: -0.17"; 76% of normal]
Total Snowfall: 6.7" [Departure from Normal: -3.9"; 63% of normal]

Seasonal Snowfall:8.1" [Departure from Normal: -9.5"; 46% of normal]