Bitter cold stretches in the Northland are not uncommon. We’re in the midst of one now. As of Wednesday, January 28th, we are on our 12th day in a row seeing temperatures below zero. It does look like we’ll see at least two more days; our record stretch happened only 12 years ago. We are currently sitting at the 68th coldest January on record.
JANUARY- FEBRUARY 2014
Duluth experienced 23 straight days below zero, breaking the previous recordThe cold streak started January 20 and ended February 11, 2014The 2013-2014 winter had 65 days below zero at the Duluth airport
Duluth set a new record with 23 consecutive days of sub-zero temperatures, ending February 11, 2014, according to the National Weather Service.
The streak began around January 20 and was driven by a southward polar vortex, keeping temperatures below 0 degrees Fahrenheit each day. This broke the previous record of 22 days, which was set in 1936 and matched in 1963.
December 2013 was Duluth’s eighth coldest on record, and January 2014 ranked as the 18th coldest. The 2013-2014 winter also saw 65 total days below zero at the Duluth airport, surpassing the 1958-1959 record of 59 days.
The record-breaking cold ended on February 11, 2014, marking a historic winter for Duluth.
Top 10 Coldest January
(Average Temperature):
Rank Value Year
1 -7.2 1912
2 -3.2 1982
3 -2.7 1875
4 -2.6 1929
5 -2.1 1994
6 -1.9 1885
7 -1.2 1966
8 -0.1 1977
9 0.2 1972
10 0.5 1979