Cold Sunday

National Weather Service surface weather map from January 17, 1982.

National Weather Service high and low temperature map (Fahrenheit) from January 17, 1982.

National Weather Service 500 millibar height contour map from January 17, 1982.

"Cold Sunday" was a meteorological event which took place on January 17, 1982, when unprecedentedly cold air swept down from Canada and plunged temperatures across much of the United States far below existing all-time record lows.

The phenomenon was caused by an unusually strong high pressure system over Saskatchewan with a core pressure of 1055mb (31.15 inHg), a level rarely seen outside of permanent polar areas such as Siberia and Antarctica. A recent snowfall had left the ground without any way to hold on to its heat and temperatures dropped precipitously. This mass of cold air was so strong that the temperature at Mequon, Wisconsin, dropped to −40 °F (−40 °C). The previous record was −28 °F (−33 °C) and temperatures below −20 °F (−29 °C) had been felt there only six times in the previous 100 years. The lowest temperature recorded that day in the United States was −52 °F (−47 °C), measured near Tower, Minnesota.

Below is a partial list of cities which set all-time record low temperatures in the United States. This is only a small fraction of all locales setting record low temperatures: Hundreds of towns and cities from North Dakota to New Jersey to Mississippi broke records, and the vast majority of the records set on "Cold Sunday" still stand. The cold was not confined to the night, either. In Princeton, New Jersey, and Cincinnati, Ohio, the daytime high temperatures were 2 °F (−17 °C) and −9 °F (−23 °C). The average high temperature in January is 39 °F (4 °C) in both cities.

While much of South Florida escaped the deep freeze, enough damage was done to citrus crops in Central Florida during the month of January to write off the 1982 harvest as a disaster.

International Falls, Minnesota: −45 °F (−43 °C)
Saint Cloud, Minnesota: −35 °F (−37 °C)
Madison, Wisconsin: −31 °F (−35 °C)
Green Bay, Wisconsin: −28 °F (−33 °C)
Chicago, Illinois: −27 °F (−33 °C)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin: −26 °F (−32 °C)
Moline, Illinois: −23 °F (−31 °C)
Peoria, Illinois: −23 °F (−31 °C)
Akron, Ohio: −22 °F (−30 °C)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: −18 °F (−28 °C)
Cleveland, Ohio: −17 °F (−27 °C)
Jackson, Mississippi: −5 °F (−21 °C)
Washington, D.C.: −5 °F (−21 °C)
Birmingham, Alabama: −2 °F (−19 °C)

External links

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Cold wave

Cold waves in North America	Winter of 1886–87 1888 Northwest United States cold wave Great Freeze Great Blue Norther of November 11, 1911 1912 United States cold wave 1936 North American cold wave Cold wave of January 1977 Cold wave of 1978 Cold Sunday Winter 1985 cold wave 1994 North American cold wave 2007 Western United States freeze Early 2014 North American cold wave November 2014 North American cold wave 2015 Valentine's Day blizzard Siberian Express

Cold waves in Europe	Great Frost of 1683–84 Great Frost of 1709 Winter of 1894–95 in the United Kingdom Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom Winter of 1962–63 in the United Kingdom Winter of 1990–91 in Western Europe 2006 European cold wave Winter of 2009–10 in Europe 2010 Swedish cold waves Winter of 2009–10 in Great Britain and Ireland Winter of 2010–11 in Great Britain and Ireland Early 2012 European cold wave

Other cold waves	White Earthquake Winter storms of 2009–10 in East Asia North Indian Cold Wave (2011) Indian cold wave (2012) 2013 extreme weather events January 2016 East Asia cold wave

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