Despite our mild temperatures, February can be mighty cold

A Press subscriber asked me this week about just when the coldest day in North America occurred in modern times. Here's the answer, Ted.

On Feb. 3, 1947, at 7:20 a.m. local time, weather observer Gordon Toole at the tiny Snag Airport in Canada's Yukon Territory reported the all-time record North American low temperature of minus-81.4 degrees Fahrenheit. More than 56 years later, this record for extreme cold still stands.

Other record low North American readings include minus-79.8 degrees Fahrenheit observed at Prospect Creek in Alaska on Jan. 23, 1971, and the all-time record low temperature for the 'Lower 48' states of minus-69.7 degrees Fahrenheit set at Rogers Pass, Mont., on Jan. 20, 1954.

The coldest temperature ever recorded in the Northern Hemisphere where people reside, was the minus-90.4 degrees Fahrenheit observed on Feb. 6, 1892, at Verkhoyansk, north of the Arctic Circle in Siberia.

The only other place in the Northern Hemisphere where temperatures have been colder than minus-81 degrees Fahrenheit occurred in central Greenland on Jan. 9, 1954 at Northice, when a British team recorded minus-86.8 degrees Fahrenheit at 6:32 a.m. local time.

I should mention that there was an 'unofficial' record low temperature of minus-94 degrees Fahrenheit observed at Oymakon in northeastern Siberia on Jan. 6, 1959. Oymakon has been consistently colder than Verkhoyansk, so this record may be someday accepted as the coldest temperature in modern times in the Northern Hemisphere.

The coldest temperature ever recorded on earth was the minus-128.6 degrees Fahrenheit reading at the Russian scientific station of Vostok in Antarctica on July 21, 1983. This station, which is staffed year-round, owes its horrifically cold weather to a lofty altitude of 11,200 feet above sea level. Vostok also holds the second coldest reading ever observed of minus-126.4 degrees Fahrenheit on Aug. 24,1960.

Locally in Idaho, our coldest temperature ever observed in the state was the bone-chilling minus-60 degrees Fahrenheit reading at Island Park Dam on Jan. 18, 1943. The elevation of this weather station is 6,285 feet.

Our coldest morning locally in Coeur d'Alene occurred on Jan. 30, 1950, when the mercury dipped to minus-30 degrees Fahrenheit in town. Close behind was the minus-29 degrees observed on Feb. 9, 1933. The coldest morning ever recorded during the month of March was minus-13 degrees on March 4, 1983. November's coldest morning ever in Coeur d'Alene was also minus-13 degrees on Nov. 27, 1896. The coldest day on record since at least 1895 during the month of December in Coeur d'Alene was a frigid minus-26 degrees on Dec. 30, 1968, shortly before the all-time snowiest January on record in 1969, when an incredible 82.4 inches of snow buried the Lake City.

Today, Monday, Feb. 18, is President's Day. The coldest Inauguration Day in the U.S. marked the beginning of Ronald Reagan's second term on Jan. 21, 1985. The wind chill factor at the time that President Reagan took the oath was minus-30 degrees Fahrenheit in Washington, D.C. (Our mild winter feels pretty good!)

NORTH IDAHO WEATHER REVIEW AND LONG-RANGE OUTLOOKS

We continue to be in a long-standing cycle of WIDE WEATHER 'EXTREMES' across our part of the country. For example, the first half of February through Valentine's Day tied 2010 for the most snowless such period on record back to at least 1895, the inception of regular weather record-keeping in Coeur d'Alene.

This dry February arrived directly on the snowy heels of December 2012 and January 2013, which produced a combined total of the white stuff of 55 inches in town, just 14.8 inches under our normal snowfall for an entire season since 1895 of 69.8 inches.

Last year, 2012, was a prime example of wide weather 'extremes' across North Idaho. The 12-month period produced an all-time record 43.27 inches of liquid precipitation in Coeur d'Alene, easily surpassing the previous record of 38.77 inches set back in the flood year of 1996.

But, I should likewise mention that there was an all-time record dry spell of 84 days between July 20, 2012, and October 12, 2012, when a mere .23 inches of rain fell from a single thunderstorm on Aug. 22.

The month of September 2012 was completely rainless, quite a drastic contrast indeed from the wettest March (7.51 inches) and the wettest June (5.84 inches) ever observed in town.

The first half of 2012 produced an all-time record 26.48 inches of liquid precipitation in Coeur d'Alene, just .29 inches under our 118-year normal for the entire year of 26.77 inches.

What does this mean for we residents of the Inland Empire when it comes to future weather prospects down the meteorological roadway?

Well, I certainly would keep those snow tires on for at least another month. We could still see another 10 to 15 inches or more of additional snow before the season ends on June 30.

Randy Mann says that a cool, wet 'La Nina' continues to build in the eastern Pacific waters. This usually means a snowier March and early April than normal, but only time will tell. As for me, I'm playing it safe. My snow tires will not come off until at least March 20, the first day of spring.

Cliff Harris is a climatologist who writes a weekly column for The Press. His opinions are his own. Email sfharris@roadrunner.com