Historic cold wave in Key West

Historic cold wave in Key West

Records date back to 1873

Historic cold wave in Key West
13 Jan 10 - NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KEY WEST FL ... HISTORIC COLD WAVE IN KEY WEST... THE LAST SEVERAL DAYS ... ONE OF THE LONGEST AND MOST INTENSE PERIODS OF COLD WEATHER EVER RECORDED IN KEY WEST. TEMPERATURES DROPPED WELL BELOW NORMAL IN THE WAKE OF A STRONG COLD FRONT ON JANUARY 2ND...AND REMAINED MORE THAN 10 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL EACH DAY ... THROUGH JANUARY 12TH.

BELOW ARE THE HIGH AND LOW TEMPERATURES...ALONG WITH THE DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL OF THE DAILY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE...RECORDED AT KEY WEST AIRPORT EACH DAY SINCE THE COLD WAVE BEGAN.

DAY/DATE HIGH LOW DEPARTURE
--------- ---- --- ---------

SAT JAN 2    64    57     -10
SUN JAN 3    60    55     -13
MON JAN 4    60    54     -14
TUE JAN 5    62    53     -13
WED JAN 6    57    52     -16
THU JAN 7    59    47     -18
FRI JAN 8    71    47     -12
SAT JAN 9    66    49     -13
SUN JAN 10   52    46     -21
MON JAN 11   56    42     -21
TUE JAN 12   59    48     -16

FOR COMPARISON...THE NORMAL HIGH TEMPERATURE IN KEY WEST THIS TIME OF YEAR IS 75 DEGREES...AND THE NORMAL LOW TEMPERATURE IS 65 DEGREES.

SIX NEW RECORD DAILY LOW AND LOW MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES HAVE BEEN SET IN KEY WEST ... A LIST OF THE NEW RECORDS FOLLOWS.

DAY/DATE NEW RECORD/TYPE OLD RECORD/YEAR
--------- --------------- ---------------

WED JAN 6    57 (LOW MAXIMUM)         60/1919
THU JAN 7    47 (LOW)                 48/1879
THU JAN 7    59 (LOW MAXIMUM)         60/1892
FRI JAN 8    47 (LOW)                 50/1970
SUN JAN 10   52 (LOW MAXIMUM)         55/1970
MON JAN 11   42 (LOW)                 48/1970

THE RECORD LOW OF 42 DEGREES ON MONDAY JAN 11TH IS PARTICULARLY NOTEWORTHY... SHATTERED PREVIOUS RECORD LOW FOR THE DATE BY SIX DEGREES... THE SECOND COLDEST TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED

IN KEY WEST...WITH TEMPERATURE RECORDS DATING BACK TO 1873. THE ALL TIME RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE IN KEY WEST IS ONLY ONE DEGREE COLDER AT 41 DEGREES. THIS HAS OCCURRED TWICE...ON JANUARY 13TH 1981...AND JANUARY 12TH 1886.

THE RECORD LOW MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 52 DEGREES OBSERVED ON JANUARY 10TH WAS THE COLDEST HIGH TEMPERATURE RECORDED IN KEY WEST IN ALMOST 70 YEARS... JANUARY 28TH 1940...WHEN THE HIGH TEMPERATURE WAS ALSO JUST 52 DEGREES. ONLY TWO COLDER HIGH TEMPERATURES HAVE EVER BEEN RECORDED IN KEY WEST...51 DEGREES ON JANUARY 26TH 1905...AND THE ALL-TIME COLDEST HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 48 DEGREES ON DECEMBER 29TH 1894.

WITH THE LOW TEMPERATURE AT KEY WEST HAVING ALREADY DROPPED TO 47 DEGREES ... TODAY...JANUARY 13TH...THERE HAVE NOW BEEN SEVEN CONSECUTIVE CALENDAR DAYS WITH LOWS BELOW 50 DEGREES... FROM JANUARY 7TH THROUGH JANUARY 13TH... THE LONGEST STREAK OF DAYS WITH LOW TEMPERATURES LESS THAN 50 DEGREES EVER RECORDED IN KEY WEST. THE PREVIOUS RECORD STREAK WAS SIX DAYS... WHICH OCCURRED DECEMBER 1ST THROUGH DECEMBER 6TH IN 1876.

BELOW ARE THE LOW TEMPERATURES OBSERVED AT SELECTED LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT THE FLORIDA KEYS ON THE COLDEST MORNING OF THIS EVENT... MONDAY JANUARY 11TH.

LOCATION LOW TEMPERATURE
-------- ---------------

NORTH KEY LARGO            35
SOUTH KEY LARGO            35
UPPER MATECUMBE KEY        36
ISLAMORADA                 37
LONG KEY                   38
DUCK KEY                   38
CURRY HAMMOCK STATE PARK   37
MARATHON AIRPORT           39
BIG PINE KEY               40
RAMROD KEY                 40
BOCA CHICA NAS             43
KEY WEST AIRPORT           42
KEY WEST NWS OFFICE        43
KEY WEST HARBOR            44

TEMPERATURES MAY FINALLY RETURN TO NEAR NORMAL LEVELS ON FRIDAY...WHICH WOULD MARK AN END TO THIS HISTORIC COLD WAVE IN KEY WEST.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/productview.php?pil=PNSKEY&max=51
Thanks to Wes Tyler and Kenneth Lund for this link

THE NEXT ICE AGE - NOW!