Coldest or 2nd Coldest Winter on Record Across Most of Wisconsin

Including Green Bay, Rhinelander, Wausau, Appleton… Chilton, Clintonville, Kewaunee, Laona, Marinette, Marshfield, Merril, New London, Oconto, Shawano, Sturgeon Bay, Two Rivers, Washington Island and Waupaca.

For meteorological and climatological record keeping purposes, “winter” is defined as the months of December, January, and February.  As such, we’ve just closed the record books on the winter of 2013-2014.  It was a very cold winter across north-central and northeast Wisconsin. Many locations reported the 1st or 2nd coldest winter on record.  Here are the frigid stats for Green Bay, Rhinelander and Wausau. At the bottom of the page, you will find data from other locations across north-central and northeast Wisconsin.

At Green Bay:

The average temperature for the winter was 10.6 degrees or 8.8 degrees below normal. The winter of 2013-14 will go down in the record books as the 2nd coldest winter on record.  Records date back to 1886.  There were 4,870 heating degree days which ranks as the 3rd most for the winter months of December, January and February.  The following winters had more heating degree days:  4,992 in 1903-04 and 4,902 in 1976-77.   The total snowfall for the winter months of December, January and February was 61.1 inches, or 7th snowiest on record. The record is 77.1 inches set back in 2007-08.

 At Rhinelander:

The average temperature for the winter was 4.7 degrees or 10.4 degrees below normal. The winter of 2013-14 will go down in the record books as the coldest winter on record.  Records date back to 1908.  There were 5,395 heating degree days which ranks as the most ever for the winter months of December, January and February.  The previous record for heating degree days was 5,362 in 1919-20. The snowfall total for the months of December, January and February was 62.7 inches, or 5th snowiest on record. The record is 79.0 inches set in 1968-69.

At Wausau:

The average temperature for the winter was 7.7 degrees or 9.8 degrees below normal. The winter of 2013-14 will go down in the record books as the 2nd coldest winter on record.  Records date back to 1895.  There were 5,137  heating degree days which ranks as the 2nd most.  Only the winter (December, January and February) of 1903-04 had more with 5,237.  Snowfall for the months of December, January and February was 64.5 inches, which set a new record. The previous snowfall record was 64.1 inches set in 1961-62.

 Other locations across north-central and northeast Wisconsin (based on best available data). 

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=grb&storyid=100749&source=0

Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this link