Oregon Hot and Cold records by month

Oregon's earliest single-digit low temperature occured in late summer! Seneca, Sept. 14, 1970....6 degrees above zero.

Sub-zero hits Oregon even before Halloween! Seneca, Oct. 21, 1996.... 2 below zero.

Earliest double-digit sub-zero reading in Oregon: Seneca, Nov. 11, 2000... 11 below zero.

Frigid Thanksgiving! Seneca, Nov. 24, 1993..... 20 below zero. (in the 1985 cold wave, Seneca hit a mighty 31 below zero a few days after Thanksgiving)

Icy times right before Christmas! Seneca, Dec. 22, 1990..... 36 below zero.

Oregon's all-time record low. Seneca, February 10, 1933.... 54 below zero (a full twenty degrees colder than the all-time record low for Minneapolis, Minnesota).... Note: there are just six places in Oregon where 50 below zero or colder have been recorded-- Seneca among them is the largest and most permanently inhabited.

Oregon's longest string of sub-zero nights.... Halfway, 32 days with below-zero low temperatures, January 2 to February 2, 1949. Lowest recorded was 34 below, with an average low an amazing 16 degrees below zero (for comparison, the average daily low for early January in Fairbanks, Alaska is only a couple of degrees colder than this).. (Click for my description of Halfway, Oregon)..... And click again for a day by day description of the Halfway cold wave of December 1948-February 1949......At this point, we should mention that Seneca may have broken several cold records in either 1949 or 1950, but we will never know, because its weather station was closed in both of the record-breaking years 1949 and 1950, due to the health of its long-term observer Howard Lohf.....however, locals reported to me that on Jan 31, 1950 it hit -50 in Seneca, which, if true, would constitute the most recent time it has hit 50 below zero in Oregon!).

Oregon's lowest mean temperature month: 0.0 degrees, January, 1937, Austin.... (this is really cold, just four degrees warmer than Fairbanks, Alaska during February).

Biting first day of March.. Drewsey, east of Burns, March 1, 1993.... 19 below zero.

Shocking first day of spring: Seneca, March 22, 1952.... 11 below zero.

Let's compete with Death Valley *... Spray, on the John Day River, August 4, 1961....116 degrees (see image). Pelton Dam on the Lower Deschutes River, August 4, 1998.... 117 degrees.... (Note: Oregon's all-time record high is 119 degrees, set at both Pendleton and Prineville in 1899-- weather instruments have only been in place at Pelton Dam for a few decades, and I am certain that Pelton Dam will exceed this record any year now, putting Oregon into the exclusive class of States which have baked under temps of 120 degrees or more)

Oregon's hottest large city-- I award the title to Medford in Southwest Oregon, in the Rogue River Valley... Here are examples of its summer heat capabilities--- July 20, 1946, 115 degrees....Early August of 1981--.Four days in a row with highs of 110 or greater: August 7, 1981 high 111, August 8 with a high of 114, August 9 with high of 111, and August 10th with a high of 110 degrees!...And here is a more recent record-- July 23, 2006, high of 107, with a "low" of a balmy 74....In July of 1990, Medford toasted with 13 days of 100 degrees or more....September can still be very hot, ie. 110 degrees September 2, 1988..... Medford's climate has more in common with the Great Central Valley of California than it does with the rest of Oregon-- I'm fond of saying that the Medford area is Oregon's little slice of California (see page bottom for a brief note about my nomination in this category for the State of Washington).

Oregon Coast scorcher, recent-- Newport suffers with 99 degrees on August 13, 2002, destroying its previous record by well over 10 degrees. The Clackamas County Fair near Oregon City opens on that same day with 104 degrees, after a tropical nightime low of 70 degrees-- but a mere one week later Fair cleanup crews shiver in daytime HIGHS well UNDER 70 degrees!

September heat: Illahe, in Southwest Oregon, Sept. 3, 1955.... 111 degrees. (Medford suffered 110 degree heat in early September, 1988). See bottom of page for details on illahe.

Late September heat, Medford, 104 degrees, September 26, 1963. More recent-- Medford, 102 degrees, September 27, 2003.

Late-Season heat wave: Spray, a high of 100 degrees four days in a row, Sept. 26-29, 1963.

Even later-season heat wave: Powers, southwest coastal area, October 11-16, 1991, with highs of 103 degrees on the 11th, and 96 on the 16th! See bottom of page for details on Powers.

Early Spring heat: Pelton Dam near Madras, April 3, 2000.....91 degrees. See Picture of the area, click here.

MAY---May Day withers: Pelton Dam near Madras, May 6, 1992.... 101 degrees.... Oregon's hottest Mays? 108 degrees, in 1986 at Pelton Dam, and 108 in 1924 in Blitzen (a tiny town in far southeast Oregon which is also among the exclusive class of Arctic King towns of Oregon with 50 below zero, January 21, 1930).

Rose Festival Scorcher just days after very Gloomy Spring 2003---- Portland melting in four days in a row with temperatures well up into the 90s, June 4-7, 2003.

June-- record heat. The village of Blitzen in extreme southeastern Oregon recorded 113 degrees June 28, 1932. For more on Blitzen, see previous paragraph about May records......Within a major town, the June record is probably Medford's mid-June heat wave of 1961, with 109 on June 15 and 107 on June 16--that was a very brutal way to begin a summer (I lived in Medford at the time and still remember my bike tires squishing through nearly molten asphalt on the streets)!

NEVER A TRULY COOL MONTH IN OREGON---There's never been a month in Oregon when you couldn't go somewhere and encounter 80 degree heat!...But such mid-winter warmth can occur in wildly different settings, eg. the all-time record-high for Oregon in January is Fremont in Central Oregon's arid Fort Rock Valley with 82 degrees (January, 1934); however, this tiny place suffers enormous daily ranges of temperature, and it is likely that the day it was 82 it was well below freezing in the morning! -----On the other hand, Oregon's other zone where mid-winter warmth occurs is truly a "Banana Belt." This zone occurs for some 50-60 miles along the remote Southern Oregon Coast; its prime exemplar is the town of Brookings, on the extreme southern Oregon coast, which is blessed with the "The Brookings Effect." This warmth-creating weather mechanism is present year-round, but especially notable during the winter months. Brookings is truly named "Home of Winter Flowers," and the area is a huge producer of Easter Lily bulbs.

More on the Brookings Effect--- This unique weather effect was first described by Portland weatherman Jack Capell in the mid-1950s. It produces heat records like these-- Brookings, January 28, 1984. 80 degrees, and in nearby Port Orford, 80 degrees on December 15, 1988 (Port Orford is 50 miles north of Brookings). And warmer yet by mid-February, when Brookings has hit a very summery 83 degrees (February 19, 1988).... Special note: the Brookings Effect often occurs within days of Eastern Oregon suffering intense sub-zero cold snaps, which makes the Effect all the more remarkable, but since the heat is restricted to this tiny and remote section of Oregon's coast, its existence is a real surprise to most of Oregon's rain-chilled residents....

New Research --- I have posted new research which I have completed on the Brookings Effect on a page of its own.... it conclusively shows that the so-called Brookings Effect is a highly capricious beast that does not offer a complete explanation of how and why some of the coastal towns in this area of Oregon (all the way up to Newport) sometimes get toasted by temperatures very near to 100 degrees. The research also broadens the geographical scope of the Brookings Effect to a zone at least 50 miles to the north of Brookings, and will note the occurences of Brookings Effect heat waves that in fact miss Brookings itself ..... Also, please see below for more on the Brookings Effect:

The Brookings Effect is a complex phenomenon, not fully understood; it's not simply warm California thermal low air moving up the California Coast that produces it, eg. Crescent City and Eureka, CA usually are either missed or have much less of the "Effect" than Brookings. A key factor in the effect is the unique topography of mountains around Brookings, especially the Chetco River and Cape Blanco, all of which interact with Brookings' unusual south-facing shoreline to produce down-canyon hot dry winds. The Brookings effect is definitely at its peak only in the limited zone around Port Orford, Gold Beach, and Brookings, but something related seems involved in the extraordinary late-season heat that can blast the inland villages of Powers and illahe (see below)!

Details on illahe and Powers: two tiny towns lost in the remoteness of the Southern Oregon coastal mountains.

Powers lies at 275 ft. elevation about 22 air miles due east of Floras Lake State Park, famed for its cranberry bogs. Powers has nearby Myrtle wood forests, being well-shielded from the cool coastal airs by mountains 1,000 to 2,000 ft. high. The town lies in a narrow valley beside the clear flow of the South Fork of the Coquille River.

illahe is a tiny town deep in the rugged canyon of the scenic Rogue River, 33 river miles up from the mouth of the river near Gold Beach. illahe is well-known to Rogue River Wild River jet boaters and receives it's U.S. Mail via jet boat. The village is just 17 air miles over the Agness Pass (2,358 ft.) from Powers, and sheltered from the coastal air by mountains up to about 4,000 ft. It is in Curry County, whereas Powers is in Coos County.

Be sure to read the startling results of new research I have completed on the Brookings Effect.... In part it will be shown that this tiny southwestern coastal area of Oregon is truly a major exemplar of "Oregon, a State of Extremes" (George Taylor's phrase).

Oregon Photos

* With all due deference to the real Death Valley, which is deep in the Southern California desert and is, by some measures, truly the hottest place in the world during it summer months. Here are some recent examples: July 21, 2003 with a high of 125, and a low of 99, followed on July 22 by a high of 122 and a low of 102. Yes, you read that correctly-- Death Valley is one of the only places in the world where night-time temps. sometimes do not go below 100 degrees!... Even more recently--- July 18, 2005, with a high of 129 degrees, and a "low" of 98 degrees! And again in summer 2006, another day set a new record for "highest minimum for the date" when the daily low fell to only 102, bringing the notice of the national media, proclaiming it another sure sign of global warming.

*WASHINGTON--- Notes about heat in Oregon's northward neighbor--- My nomination for Washington's hottest larger city has got to be Tri-Cities (Pasco, Kennewick, Richland). This hotbox lies In south central Washington along the mighty Columbia River and very close to the Oregon border. Recent example of record-setting heat: July 23, 2006, with a high of 112 degrees, and an average temperature for the day of an Arizona-like 90 degrees (Tri-City normals for the date are 95 high and 61 low ). Comparison values--- Seattle's normal high for the date is nearly 20 degrees cooler, a mild 76, with a normal low of 56.... Tri-Cities is a very fertile agricultural area, justly famous for the abundance of warm weather crops it produces, such as watermelons!

This pleasant city on the southern tip of Puget Sound has a generally mild and rather cloudy climate, with lots of rain (about 55 inches per year, whereas Portland is about 39 inches and Seattle about 38 inches)...... Comparatively, Olympia is consistently cooler and wetter and more cloudy than Portland, Oregon, and if the comparison is expanded to compare Olympia's climate with that of Oregon's capital (Salem) one is even more impressed with how much cooler, wetter, more humid, and more cloudy Olympia is.... It is not uncommon for even the height of summer to be afflicted with many days in a row where the city sits trapped under a dense layer of "cool marine air" with basically no sunshine and even some drizzle.

Olympia does have a few surprises, one being that it possesses a consistently more extreme climate than the other major cities of Puget Sound, especially Seattle; eg. Olympia is consistently colder, hotter, has more snow, etc. Here's a mid-summer example: August 9, 1981, 104 degrees, August 10, 102 degrees, while Seattle scored 99 and 98 degrees on the same dates.... In terms of long-term averages, however, Olympia's summer's are mild, with the warmest month being July, with an average daily high of only 78 degrees..... Meanwhile, in the record low department, Olympia is consistently surprising for a lowland, west-side-of-the-Cascades city, eg. record low for an August 9th was in 1975, a chilling 38 degrees! (Seattle's record low for this date a much milder 47 degrees in 1950).

By November, Olympia has experienced an astonishing record low of 1 below zero TWICE during the month (November 15, 1955, and Thanksgiving Day, 1985). For comparison, during the Thanksgiving event Seattle recorded a comparatively mild 10 degrees, and Portland warmer yet at 17 degrees.... It is unclear what the mechanisms are that consistently produce these differences between Seattle and Olympia-- on the face of it, both are sea-level locations right on the shores of a major body of water (Puget Sound). Neither is particularly close to any major range of mountains. Although the "Puget Sound Convergence Zone" is often mentioned in connection with Puget Sound weather and climate, its influence, if any, on Olympia's tendency to be hotter and colder has never been explicated to me.

Notes on the paragraph just above-- 1985 in History: the Thanksgiving Arctic Cold Wave of 1985 set extreme cold records that still stand all over Oregon and Washington. In many locations, the November 1985 cold wave set records that came very close to equalling the station's ALL-TIME record low. Such was the case in Olympia, where the all-time record low is only six degrees colder, a 7 Below zero, set in January of 1972.. and again more recently, right before Christmas, December 23, 1983..... The year 1985 was also notorious region-wide for having major arctic invasions in back-to-back winters---having extreme cold in both January/ February '85 (eg. down to 43 below zero in Oregon's Seneca), and then again ten months later in late November... By December of 1985, people must have been close to believing that a new Ice Age was on its way!

Final Note: Olympia also set its DECEMBER record low in 1972, but one needs to note that actually this was in a different winter than the one where the 7 Below zero was recorded--- Olympia's DECEMBER record low is 3 below zero, set during the bitter, long-lasting arctic cold wave of early December, 1972. This author personally experienced the December 1972 cold wave, being camped out during it, in Central Oregon's High Desert, where he experienced frost down to 28 below zero F.... the December 1972 Arctic blast in Olympia was quite remarkable. Beginning with a morning low of 5 above zero on Dec. 7th, 1972, Olympia's cold wave went to 3 BELOW zero on Dec. 8th, up to 10 above on the 9th, but sank to 1 BELOW zero on Dec. 10th, finally rising to 11 above zero on Dec. 11th. This is a pretty respectable cold wave for a sea-level and beside-the-water location such as Olympia, WA.

This author rates the December 1972 cold wave as the most severe to hit Oregon/Washington since January, 1950 (in terms of both extreme low records set, and duration of the cold event)......and with global warming apparently firmly in charge, it seems likely that the December 1972 Cold Wave will not be equalled in our lifetimes.

Copyright 2007 by Bruce B. Johnson

My first summer in the Puget Sound area of Washington State hit me with a long series of ups and downs, mostly disappointments-- a hopeful start in May that fizzled out very badly by summer's end......

Spring in Western Oregon and Washington is a time when seasoned residents are accustomed to renewing their patience, and putting up with a few more months of rain and cloudy skies. They're holding out for the blue skies of summer, that longed-for shirt sleeve weather, and the sunshine that warms the soul until well after 9 pm. each night.*

April 2007: long-term residents of the Pacific Northwest know that April is often just another month in which to hone their patience and stay indoors. April 2007 was cool and cloudy, it only got up to 70 or more on two occasions, and there were clear days only three times, four if you stretched the definition a bit. ..

But in May, as if by Weather God decree, the summer whistle blew precisely on May 15th, and the daytime high roared up to 85 degrees, with everyone joyously sweating, marvelling at the all-day blue skies. Some even began to worry that it was an evil portent of GLOBAL WARMING, that maybe Summer 2007 was going to be one of those new-fangled killing summers, like what had decimated London a couple years ago.

And there seemed to be proof a couple weeks later when SUMMER CAME EARLY! Again, the Weather God smiled baitingly, and smack dab on the Labor Day weekend, true-blue summer weather arrived! For six luscious days in a row, daytime highs were in the 80s, all the way to 88 on June 30th. And blue skies ruled, with most of the six days rating as basically cloudless, lacking even the usual "morning clouds" that commonly steal about half of each day's sunshine. Little did they know that this six days was going to be the very best that Summer 2007 was going to offer them.

Residents had been so astounded by May 15's heat, and especially by the six straight days of 80s and clear skies from May 29-June 3, that most of them missed the true weather facts of May 2007-- there were only a total of 4 days with highs of 80 or above, and not very many actual clear days.

Then came June 2007-- after such a great start to summer in May, residents expected great things out of June. But once the May 29-June 3 heat wave was over, there were only four more days that counted as clear in the entire remainder of the month. And overall June was cool, with a meager 5 days having highs of 80 or above, and the highest of those only 84, which happened at the beginning of the month, not the end.

July was when those holding on to hopes of a hot, sunny summer began to get confused and a little worrried. While the month had a total of 12 days with highs of 80 or more, only two of them rose to 90 or above. July 11 skyrocketed to a respectable 99, making it Summer 2007's hottest day, but July's second hottest day was only 91, that recorded the day before the 99 degrees scorcher. The third hottest day trailed far behind, at only 87. (only slightly warmer than May 15th's reading). ..Clear skies with abundant sunshine are a main sign of summer in the Pacific Northwest, but in July 2007 around Puget Sound, while it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great, either. The actual statistics showed only 14 or 15 clear days out of the 31 days, and only about half of those were of the "golden days of summer" category--- clear skies and sun from sunrise to sunset.... Overall, by the end of July it became depressing to hear that the long-term climate records show that July "should be" the hottest and clearest month of the average year. Instead, July 2007 had warm spells coming and going, but never really staying hot for more than a few days. . Puget Sound residents were finding it difficult to spur their bodies into becoming acclimatized for summer heat.

August historically can often be the rival of July, but in 2007 things were beginning to look seriously wrong by the 15th, and by month's end it was clear that Summer 2007 was going Bust. August ended with only 8 days with highs of 80 or above, and the month's hottest was only 88 degrees! There had been no 90 degree temperatures at all, a rather rare occurrence for August, even around Puget Sound. The morning of August 11 had seen a very chilly 43 degrees. People's garden tomatoes were having a tough time with this kind of thing!
And, worse, August had been marred by repeated periods of rain with cool temperatures throughout the month, definitely not a harbinger of summer warmth and September sun to come.

August's poor showing left the hopeful with only September. Some wished forlornly that Global Warming might gift the area with a month of late summer. Those from Oregon were aware that such clear, stable weather in September is fairly common, and especially so in Southern Oregon. --- but no gift came. September around Puget Sound began with over a week of cool, mostly cloudy days that seemed like
Fall. Overall, the month was to have only four clear days, and spitefully clustered them all into one brief four-day period in the first half of the month. That single period also contained the only two days of September when temperatures even got to summer-like levels of 80 degrees or above.

So summer-lovers sweated deliciously on Sept.10 and 11, enjoying the clear skies and highs of 84 and 85, but that was to be "it." The month of September, our "Last Best Hope," ended with many days of cold rain, and highs not even reaching 60 degrees.
Summer 2007 had only reached true heat levels of 90 or above on TWO occasions the entire summer!

The coup de grace to Summer fell on Sept. 30, a day with a bleak high of only 54, and well over an inch of rain! ....Then, just to be sure, came awful October 2 and 3, grim days of heavy rains that caused flooding streets, with highs again in the mid-fifties. October 6th, a day-off-from-work-let's-clean-up-the-yard Saturday, sunk to totally winter-like conditions, with the majority of the daylight hours in the uppper 40s, and a persistent drizzle/mist most of the day that kept everything sopping-wet.

It came down to Indian Summer, the very Last Hope. Just to the south, in Oregon, the so-called "Indian Summer" phenomenom is a common happening, where October often will have a couple long periods of clear or mostly clear days, with warm daytime tempeatures but often cold nights-- in fact, in Eastern Oregon the cold nights can be very cold indeed, with severe, repeated frosts that paint the trees with wonderful fall colors. But even Oregonians were worried this year. Said astronomer Carol Huston, "Well, our gray time of year is descending upon us, earlier than normal it seems. The weather is turning colder, and the rain is already starting to come down. What happened to our Oregon Indian Summer and those beautiful autumn days where the sun is still shining, the wind is starting to blow, the leaves are turning to flame colors on the maples, and the chill in the air is crisp but dry?" (Quoted from the journal of Oregon's largest astronomy club, President Carol Huston in The Rosette Gazette, October 2007).

Finally, on October 13 and 14, for two brief days, Olympia got Indian Summer.
For two days there was abundant sunshine that begain in late morning after the morning fog burned off, with high temps in the upper 60s, and pleasing fall colors beginning to paint the trees. But that short-lived. Winter descended, by October 17, and there were more snows down to pass levels in the mountains, and daytime highs in Olympia barely touching 50. For seven long days it was rainy and cold.

But on October 22 it dried out, and on Oct 23, for one blessed day, a reminder of summer fell upon the city, with partly cloudy skies and a record-setting high of 73 degrees! The heat lasted only one day, but a true Indian Summer had been ushered in.. For the next two weeks Olympia remained uncharacteriscally dry, with cool temperatures, some frosty mornings, partly sunny to mostly cloudy skies, and intense fall colors that locals raved about as the best in many years.

Reviewing Summer 2007, Jim Todd, Planetarium Director at OMSI stated to a large audience at the Fall meeting of the American Meteorological Society, "We had to cancel all seven of this summer's star parties due to clouds. In 15 years of holding our public star parties, we've NEVER had this happen before."

2007--- TERRIBLE SUMMER. DECENT INDIAN SUMMER. THE END.

So now ensues the endless torture of wondering how many months it will be before another period of 80-degree, clear weather visits the Puget sound area...Those afflicted with Seasonal Affective Disorder will be dismayed to know that, historically, the wait will be long.. If 2007 was any guide, the wait will be until May 15, 2008. For those who can't add that high, that will be a bit over eight months. That is a very long time in anyone's books.

The End Copyright 2007 by Bruce B. Johnson

* Note: Olympia temperatures are reported above.... Seattle's climate is milder overall. During the summer months, Olympia's daily high temeratures are nearly always hotter by 1-4 degrees than Seattle's, and also are usually cooler at night by 2-6 degrees.

** On a related note, it is shocking to see how quickly summertime heat deserts Puget Sound in October, and retreats far to the south... I will illustrate by listing the ALL-TIME RECORD HIGHS for October 10th, with some additional records for October 17-19.

Seattle, record high for October 10 is 77, and down to only 70 by October 19th.
Olympia, 79 for October 10, sinking to a cool 69 by October 19th.
Portland, Oregon, a comfortably summery 85 on October 10
Salem, Oregon. October 10 has been a bit hot, at 90, and still warm at 84 on October
19th.
Medford, Oregon (near the California border), 94 on October 10, 97 for October 9th.
(and still 85 on the 19th).

....Thus we see that even in mid-October summertime heat can be be alive and well in Southern Oregon, but around Puget Sound it's long-gone.

1. As mentioned above, Halfway holds an Oregon record for the longest string of sub-zero nights. This 32-day record is very little-known and was discovered in the course of this author's historical weather record research. It is a record that applies to "real towns where people live," not remote recording stations, isolated ranches, or the like.

2. The even less-known record that Halfway holds also occurred during the same brutal winter of 1948-49. Many experts say this winter ranks among the top five "coldest ever" winters to strike Oregon in historic times.

I call the record, "Oregon's longest string of arctic weather in a real town." It hit Halfway, Oregon, December 16, 1948 through February 2, 1949. (a spell of 49 days, which is easy to remember because it ended in 1949!).

December 15, 1948 had a chilly night, 7 above zero, but things were to get much, much worse.
Dec. 16, the morning temperature slid to 1 above zero, the point at which I arbitrarily mark the beginning of the Longest Arctic Period in Oregon's recorded History.
Dec. 17, the long string of sub-zero nights began in earnest with a 12 below zero reading on the town's thermometer.
Dec. 18, colder yet at 17 below zero.
Dec. 19, a brief warm-up, Halfway's data is "missing" this date, but nearby stations allow me to estimate 1 below at Halfway.
Dec. 20. A real warm-up, 7 above zero, and it seems like the brief pre-Christmas cold spell is about to end in time for Christmas festivities.
Dec. 21 back down to 7 below zero.
Dec. 22 . Yikes, 14 below.
Dec. 23. Now the day dawns at 24 below and residents are beginning to take this cold wave seriously.
Dec. 24. It sinks to 28 below zero and Christmas preparations are slowing down to molasses in the bitter cold.
Dec. 25. Still 22 below zero.
Dec. 26. Still 21 below zero. It's now been basically ten days of bad cold, and residents are beginning to forget the brief warm-up.
Dec. 27. At 14 below, the thick ice on all the rivers, streams, stock ponds continues to grow day by day.

Dec. 28, only 5 below zero and hope begins.

Dec. 29, only 1 below zero and now hope blossoms.

Dec. 30, it's up to 1 above zero this morning! Now hope is big although of course nothing at all is melting!

December 31, down to 1 below.

January 1, 1949. It's New Year's, and we know it's finally over! The morning temperature springs up to a mild 11 above zero. It's been 16 days of nasty cold, and we're more than ready for it to be over!

January 2, we wake up to 16 below zero, and know that things have taken a bad turn again.

January 3, with the morning at 25 below zero, moods are dismal around town.

January 4, the morning is at 30 below zero, the coldest it's been and most believe it can't possibly get any colder than this! Modern comparison: the all-time record coldest for January 4th in Boston, MA is only 4 below zero, and only 17 below in Denver!

January 5, tiny relief, only 22 below zero.

January 6, up to 8 below.

January 7, up to only 5 below and maybe cautious residents can afford some hope.

January 8, down again, this time to 11 below.

January 9, terrible cold again, 30 below zero.

January 10, worse, 31 below zero, the coldest yet, will this ever end?

January 11, 1949. Another night of 31 below zero. This is unbelievable. The cold wave has now been going on for 27 days, nearly a month!

January 12, at 22 below zero, this is what some weathermen like to call "54 degrees of frost."

-- to be continued

copyright 2008 by Bruce B. Johnson, all rights reserved.