The Mother of All Cold Waves

It starts out a a wisp of white cloud against the blue backdrop of a clear winter sky. The advancing white line of high cirrus clouds suddenly covers the entire sky. As the storm front approaches, the low storm clouds appear blue against the higher clouds, hence the name.

The cold front’s arrival is announced by a smattering of rain and strong northerly winds. The temperature plunges. Residents of the Plains know it as a blue norther. It is said that there is nothing separating the Plains from the Arctic but a few barbed wire fences. This is really true.

There are no mountain ranges like the Rockies to bottle up the cold air. When it comes south, it does so with a vengeance.

On this date, the most notable blue norther in history was racing southward. It would not stop until it got to Central America. On February 11, 1899, the temperature plunged to 61 degrees below zero in Montana. It would become one of the greatest all-time U.S. cold waves of all time. By the next day, temperatures in the Texas Panhandle would be as low as -23ºF at Tulia, tying the state’s all-time record low. Galveston Bay would be covered by a sheet of ice.

The low of -8F in Dallas on the 12th is still the city’s all time record low. It was –13F in Little Rock, -22F in Kansas City and –15F in Washington, D.C., all represent the lowest temperatures ever recorded at those stations.