Missouri Ruralist logo

Bitterly cold temperatures were once common in Missouri.

Mindy Ward, Editor, Missouri Ruralist

January 26, 2014

2 Min Read

It has been a few years since Missourians have endured a cold wave. Actually, University of Missouri climatologist Pat Guinan says residents have to remember the mid-to-late 1980s in order to find a cold spell that rival last week's bitterly cold temperatures.

recent_cold_snap_brings_back_memories_80s_1_635263551323935127.jpg

In December of 1983, a historic cold wave hit much of the eastern two-thirds of the country. Many locations in Missouri had temperatures 10-20 degrees below zero on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Kansas City set an all-time record low temperature of minus 23 degrees on Dec. 23, 1989. Guinan says January 1982 and 1985 were very cold, averaging 6.4 and 7.3 degrees below normal, respectively. Then in February 1980, 1985 and 1989 there was more than 6 degrees below normal.

The state climatologist adds that cold weather could even be tracked back to the late 1970s. During that decade, there were three consecutively bitterly cold winters where temperatures dropped to 20 to 3- degrees below zero over parts of the state.

Until this year, Missouri has experienced warm winters in recent years

Guinan says most of these are just a memory as Missourians have been "spoiled" with warm winters in recent years.

"We've just had more mild winters over the past couple of decades," he adds. "If you look at weather records that go back to the late 1800s, four out of the top five warmest winters occurred since 1990."

According to Guinan's records, since 1990, there have only been two winter months that averaged more than 6 degrees below normal: December 2000, 11.7 degrees below normal, and February 2010, 6.8 degrees below normal. Then there was a short-lived but intense cold wave across the Midwest in early February 1996, but mild temperatures dominated the rest of the month.

Guinan says that this round of cold weather the state is experiencing is not a rare event, "Missourians got a reality check this year."

Still, he says, one unusual aspect of the recent cold air outbreak was high temperatures staying at or below zero in central and northern Missouri. Based on historical climate data, that's rare for the Show-Me State.

However, the southerly surging Arctic air masses through the middle part of the country, dropping temperatures well below zero is normal. It does not happen often, Guinan says, but it happens. He has seen many occasions where the Arctic Air Express drops all the way to the Gulf Coast.

Source: University of Missouri Extension

About the Author(s)

Mindy Ward

Editor, Missouri Ruralist

Mindy resides on a small farm just outside of Holstein, Mo, about 80 miles southwest of St. Louis.

After graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural journalism, she worked briefly at a public relations firm in Kansas City. Her husband’s career led the couple north to Minnesota.

There, she reported on large-scale production of corn, soybeans, sugar beets, and dairy, as well as, biofuels for The Land. After 10 years, the couple returned to Missouri and she began covering agriculture in the Show-Me State.

“In all my 15 years of writing about agriculture, I have found some of the most progressive thinkers are farmers,” she says. “They are constantly searching for ways to do more with less, improve their land and leave their legacy to the next generation.”

Mindy and her husband, Stacy, together with their daughters, Elisa and Cassidy, operate Showtime Farms in southern Warren County. The family spends a great deal of time caring for and showing Dorset, Oxford and crossbred sheep.

Subscribe to receive top agriculture news
Be informed daily with these free e-newsletters

You May Also Like