1899: The coldest airmass to move into the US

February 1899 marked the arrival of perhaps the coldest airmass in move into the United States in recorded history. For more than a week the bitter arctic cold ravaged North America with Blizzards and ice. Records were established that hold even today more than century later. By February 12, 1899 the cold was already firmly established. In previous days the mercury had already dipped to minus 20 in Columbus and Pittsburgh. The day before on the 11th parts of Montana had seen temperatures below minus 60. In Tallahassee 2 below was recorded, a state of Florida record that still stands today. A foot and a half of snow had not only fallen in Philadelphia and Baltimore, but Richmond and Raleigh. By February 12 the storm was in full swing, in Boston winds gusted to 65 mph and maintained an average of 50 mph throughout the entire day. 24-36" of snow just north of Boston in Beverly. The Boston Herald declared: "Rarely, if ever, has Boston been so completely snowbound as it has been by this blizzard." At the end of the storm, the snow depth measured 23" in Boston. But the snow extended far southward bringing unheard of snow totals including 4 in Charleston SC and 2.8” in Tallahassee. The cold persisted well behind the storm, Tulia, Texas recorded a morning temperature of minus 23, a state record. The arctic grip was not lessening, far from it, some places would suffer even more from the cold in coming days.

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