Winter Weather Review
The Winter of 2022/3 was one to remember... or forget!
‘‘the -53.4°C logged at Rabbit Kettle was Canada’s coldest December temperature in recorded history’’
DISCLAIMER: An imbalance in weather reporting has, in my opinion, reinforced the false impression that we are accelerating towards a cow-fart and coal-induced climate catastrophe. So, as with all of my seasonal weather reviews, I intentionally focus on weather events that register at the lower end of the temperature scale.
I have included 40 teeth-chattering examples of record-breaking cold weather reports from around the world between December 2022 and February 2023.
Perhaps see if you can pick out your favorite holiday destination.. before you book for this year’s getaway!?
So pour yourself a nice (warm!) cup of tea..
..and please don’t forget you can also follow me on Twitter and on LinkedIn for more bite-sized cold-weather stories from around the World and other Atlas Report updates.
December, 2022
‘‘For the first time on record, with measurements dating back to 1859, Sydney failed to reach 32°C throughout the entire year of 2022’’
Canada; multiple low-temperature records were broken between 5th and 7th of December – the oldest being in Estevan where -37.3°C smashed the previous mark set more than 100-years-ago.
Oymakon, Russia; the -61.0°C was the coldest temperature in December since 1984, one of the coldest ever for the 1st half of the month and the 2nd coldest minimum monthly temperature in Russia since 1984!
Perisher Valley, Australia; on the 9th December, the met station at Perisher Valley touched -7ºC, equaling the lowest ever recorded Australian December temperature, and equaling the continent’s lowest ever summer temperature set in 1979.
Scotland, UK; the Scottish glens plunged below -15ºC on December 11th and 12th which, in record books dating back to the 1800’s, makes it the UK’s lowest temperatures on record for these days. The same location sank even lower the following morning, registering an astonishing -17.3ºC.
Victoria, Australia; Mount Hotham dropped to -5.4ºC in the middle of the month, Victoria's lowest summer temperature on record, beating the -5.2ºC from the same place set back in December 1978.
Morne-Rouge, Martinique; the low of 12.1ºC logged at Morne-Rouge is the lowest temperature ever recorded on the Caribbean island, beating the 12.6ºC set in 1975.
Valle Nuevo, Dominican Republic; recorded just 1.9ºC, the country’s lowest temperature ever recorded in the month of December, and the lowest in any month for almost 50 years.
Yamagata Prefecture, Japan; Hijiori had 134 cm of snow, surpassing the previous December record of 107 cm while Shinjo had 89 cm, making it the all-time record and almost four times the average.
Tasmania, Australia; Hobart recorded it’s coldest December day in 50 years.
Kyoto, Japan; Miyama observed -6.6ºC, the locale’s lowest December temperature on record (tying with 1980).
Wyoming, USA; an all-time record low temperature was set at Casper with an astonishing -41°C, breaking the previous record that had stood since 1939.
Kochi, Japan; the city had the biggest snowfall in its recorded history (since 1912) with an accumulation of 14 cm.
New York, USA; with records kept since 1869, 2022 saw it’s coldest Christmas eve in Central Park since 1872 with a high of just -9°C. It was also the coldest December day in NYC since 1983.
Vostok, Antarctica; the low of -40.5°C likely to have been the research stations’ coldest Christmas day since 1973.
Northwest Territories, Canada; the -53.4°C logged at Rabbit Kettle was Canada’s coldest December temperature in recorded history.
Wyoming, USA; the low of -42F in Midwest was its’ coldest reading since record-keeping began in 1939
Montana, USA; the low of -37°C in Antelope was 5°C colder than the site’s previous all-time record low set in 2008.
Iowa, USA; the high of just -28°C in Rockwell City beat the locations previous record set in 1905.
Sydney, Australia; a relatively cool December capped off a cool year. For the first time on record, with measurements dating back to 1859, Sydney failed to reach 32°C throughout the entire year! (Despite the city’s ever-increasing urban heat island (UHI) effect).
Scandinavia; Norway had it’s coldest December since 2012, averaging 2.9°C below the multi-decadal average, and Denmark closed the month with an average temperature of just 1.5°C, substantially below the multi-decadal average.
January 2023
‘‘Ghor, Afghanistan; this central Afghan city posted an all-time record low temperature in January with a teeth-chattering -33ºC.’’
Tongulakh, Russia; the truly bone-crunching -62.4ºC became this Siberian town's lowest temperature ever recorded, and also marks Russia’s coldest January temperature in more than 40 years!
Nok Kundi, Pakistan; reached a low of -10ºC, equaling the areas’ all-time lowest temperature.
Turkmenabat, Turkmenistan; set an all-time record low temperature at just -25.4ºC, comfortably beating the previous record that had stood since 1900.
Guantanamo, Cuba; the 9.9ºC logged at the airport was the lowest temperature ever recorded in the area.
Jinotega, Nicaragua; the area experienced it's lowest ever temperature with a relatively chilly 8.6ºC.
Ghor, Afghanistan; the central city posted an all-time record low temperature with a teeth-chattering -33ºC.
Mohe City, China; the unimaginable -53ºC recorded here was the coldest temperature ever recorded by the Chinese meteorological system.
Kousa, Japan; dropped to a low of -9ºC, the locale’s lowest temperature ever recorded in books dating back to 1979.
Texas, USA; the 2.8 inches of snow in Amarillo broke the Panhandle's record for daily snowfall in books dating back to 1892.
Hakha, Myanmar; the western town plunged to -6ºC, equaling the country's all-time national record low.
February 2023
‘‘LAX airport recorded a low of 5°C in February, equaling the old record set in 2019.’’
New Hampshire, USA; Mt Washington posted a wind-chill of -78°C at the beginning of February, the coldest ever recorded in the continental U.S. The ‘actual’ -44°C was also a new February record for the state, and tied with the all-time lowest temperature set more than a century ago.
New England, USA; Boston dropped to -23°C, smashing its 1886 record -of 18°C; while Bridgeport, Connecticut suffered -20°C, usurping its previous February low of -15°C set in 1996.
Chromio, Cyprus; dropped to -12°C, just 0.6°C off of breaking the national record, while a cold -11°C was logged at Troodos Mountain, a new all-time low for the area.
Colorado, USA; the 4.2 inches that fell on Valentines Day at Colorado Springs broke an 81-year-old snowfall record.
Omaezaki, Japan; extremely rare flurries of snow came to the tip of the Omaezaki Peninsula on Japan’s Pacific coast, the city believed to have only ever received snow on two previous occasions.
Ushuaia, Argentina; a record low-max of just 4.7°C was posted which was the areas lowest ever daily temperature for the month of February.
North Dakota, USA; according to NWS data, the 4.5 inches of snow that settled at Bismarck Airport towards the end of February beat it’s previous all-time record for the day, set just last year.
California, USA; in Los Angeles, LAX recorded a low of 5°C, equaling the old record set in 2019.
Lord Howe Island, Australia: the 13.7°C observed on Lord Howe Island in The Tasman Sea was the island’s lowest ever February reading.
Greenland: on February 24th the Greenland ice sheet posted a huge 11 gigaton gain in a single day — a new record in the Danish Meteorological Institute’s books dating back to 1981.
Wrap-up Warm Folks!
It certainly seems as though our carbon taxes and green levies are working!
But one can’t help but wonder whether many would actually welcome a bit of ‘global warming’ having witnessed such extreme conditions in recent months!
Hmmm, there’s one to think about…
-T