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Averages for the month were -26/-44 (in F) which is more than 20 F below normal.
Also, December 1917 averaged -41/-58 (in F) at Fort Yukon, AK. Verkhoyansk like temperatures in North America.
Thanks!
Corrections thus far:
1. The coldest temp for the lower 48 since 2000 was presumably -54F in Embarass MN in 2005. I think that Jan 2011 probably also came close (as INL recorded -46 on the 21st). Also Jan 2009. The fact that -60 was recorded at Tower within the past 20 yrs is also interesting (perhaps an indicator that such temps are still possible down here).
2. The coldest temp in North America since 2000 was -72F in Chicken AK which was recorded in Jan 2000 but also in Feb 2008. Chicken "only" reached -59 during the Jan 2012 one. On Weatherspark one can see the temps that the 2008 cold snap brought to nearby places like Old Crow and Fort Yukon:
1. The coldest temp for the lower 48 since 2000 was presumably -54F in Embarass MN in 2005. I think that Jan 2011 probably also came close (as INL recorded -46 on the 21st). Also Jan 2009. The fact that -60 was recorded at Tower within the past 20 yrs is also interesting (perhaps an indicator that such temps are still possible down here).
2. The coldest temp in North America since 2000 was -72F in Chicken AK which was recorded in Jan 2000 but also in Feb 2008. Chicken "only" reached -59 during the Jan 2012 one. On Weatherspark one can see the temps that the 2008 cold snap brought to nearby places like Old Crow and Fort Yukon:
Whether Chicken's data (although impressive) is actually reliable is another story.
The weatherspark data is not exactly accurate. It's like they take the hourly measurements, but not the actual extremes. It's accurate up north where they have low diurnal temperature ranges, but down here it's not right. Since we are discussing 2008, let's look at 2008 here in BC. On December 20th, 2008, the temperature dropped to -31C, marking the earliest date ever for a temperature of -30 or colder, BUT weatherspark says it was only -29 because they only look at the hourly data.
P.S. as for Chicken, I've been there two times, and it's up on a ridge, which in the north usually means much warmer winters, but the weather station itself might be in a low spot on the ridge, which would give very cold temperatures.
Within North America, the coldest temp recorded for a metro area with population > 1 million was Minneapolis-St. Paul in Jan 2004, when it reached -31C (-24F). It reached -30C (-23F) again in Jan 2014 (source), and that mark might be in jeopardy this Sunday night!
I can't prove it for sure as I could only find stats going back to 2011 but I am quite confident that Ottawa (over 1 million in the metro) has gone a few degrees below -30C a couple of times since 2000.
I live in the urbanized portion of the metro and I've seen -34C at my house since I moved in in 2005, and generally I am quite similar to the readings at Ottawa airport (YOW).
The closest to -30C I've found officially for Ottawa are:
Within North America, the coldest temp recorded for a metro area with population > 1 million was Minneapolis-St. Paul in Jan 2004, when it reached -31C (-24F). It reached -30C (-23F) again in Jan 2014 (source), and that mark might be in jeopardy this Sunday night! The same statistic for a city over 100000 was Winnipeg in 2004 and again in 2007, when it reached -41C/-42F (source).
That's cool, thanks, but on December 13 2009 it got down to -46.1°C in Edmonton (source). In fact Edmonton dropped below -41.7°C three nights in a row at that time.
I can't prove it for sure as I could only find stats going back to 2011 but I am quite confident that Ottawa (over 1 million in the metro) has gone a few degrees below -30C a couple of times since 2000.
I live in the urbanized portion of the metro and I've seen -34C at my house since I moved in in 2005, and generally I am quite similar to the readings at Ottawa airport (YOW).
The closest to -30C I've found officially for Ottawa are:
The average low every year at Ottawa is around -30. Every single winter falls to at least -22C.
Last winter the low was -29.6C (rounds to -30), the year before it was -29.9C (rounds to -30), the two years before that it was -29.5C. 2011/12 was quite warm at a mere -25.3C, but the temperature did drop to -30.9 in 2010/11.
That's cool, thanks, but on December 13 2009 it got down to -46.1°C in Edmonton (source). In fact Edmonton dropped below -41.7°C three nights in a row at that time.
Yes okay I agree. I was thinking that Edmonton's metro didn't exceed 1 million but it does. Also the city center station only reached -36c even though the airport was much lower.
So, that -46c then puts Edmonton right up there with Novosibirsk for the coldest temp recorded in the world for a 1-million-metro-area since 2000.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Glacierx
The weatherspark data is not exactly accurate. It's like they take the hourly measurements, but not the actual extremes.
Yes I'm aware. I don't claim the WS data to coincide with the official records (and some locations do actually have major errors), but despite that it does give a general idea of how cold a given location has gotten in a particular year, and official records from most places can be retrieved at will if desired.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
I can't prove it for sure as I could only find stats going back to 2011 but I am quite confident that Ottawa (over 1 million in the metro) has gone a few degrees below -30C a couple of times since 2000.
I live in the urbanized portion of the metro and I've seen -34C at my house since I moved in in 2005, and generally I am quite similar to the readings at Ottawa airport (YOW).
The closest to -30C I've found officially for Ottawa are: -29.9C on Jan. 8, 2015; -29.6C on Feb. 14, 2016
I would agree that Ottawa is the coldest major city in Eastern NA and has seen comparable if not colder temps than the MSP area. But in terms of extremes, it still falls short of more western cities in Canada like Edmonton or Winnipeg, as well as its Siberian counterparts like Ulan Bator.
Yes okay I agree. I was thinking that Edmonton's metro didn't exceed 1 million but it does. Also the city center station only reached -36c even though the airport was much lower.
So, that -46c then puts Edmonton right up there with Novosibirsk for the coldest temp recorded in the world for a 1-million-metro-area since 2000.
Interestingly enough, that -46C in 2009 was the second coldest temperature ever recorded at the Edmonton airport. The only colder reading was from January, 1972.
Of course, long before the invention of the airplane and the establishment of the Edmonton airport, it was colder than that in Edmonton. In January 1886 the temperature was -49.4C (-57F). This was again repeated in February of 1894.
See any decade standing out? The last time ReykjavÃk had an Arctic year was 1983.
Bergen Florida 5 wettest years:
1. 3092 mm (2015)
2. 3062 mm (1967)
3. 3052 mm (2005)
4. 3042 mm (2007)
5. 3020 mm (1992)
Helsinki Centre 5 wettest years:
1. 895 mm (1944)
2. 880 mm (1974)
3. 861 mm (1883)
4. 860 mm (1981)
5. 848 mm (2012)
Helsinki Centre 5 driest years:
1. 366 mm (1865, 1875)
3. 373 mm (1855)
4. 377 mm (1857)
5. 399 mm (2002)
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