The number of days with subzero temperatures has reached record or near-record levels for many Midwest cities this winter. We have the rankings for several of these cities, starting with two locations that will log day 70 of subzero temperatures on Friday.
Note: A subzero day is one where the temperature fell below zero at any one point during a particular calendar day.
International Falls, Minn.
- Number of subzero days this winter: 69 through Feb. 27
- Friday will mark day number 70, tying the all-time record for the period of Dec. 1 to Feb. 28 set in 1977-1978.
- Number of subzero days this winter: 69 through Feb. 27
- Subzero day number 70 will be this Friday. This will tie as the fourth most number of subzero days on record for the period from Dec. 1 to Feb. 28. The all-time record for this period of time is 74 days.
- When looking at the entire cold season from November to April, the most subzero days on record is 85 in the winter of 1977-1978.
- Number of subzero days this winter: 64 through Feb. 27.
- This beats the old record of 59 days set in the winter of 1958-1959, 1916-1917 and 1874-1875 for the period from Dec. 1 to Feb. 28.
- Included is a record streak of 23 straight days with subzero lows from Jan. 20 through Feb. 11.
- Number of subzero days this winter: 64 through Feb. 27.
- Subzero day number 65 will be this Friday, which will tie as the fourth most for the period from Dec. 1 to Feb. 28 dating back to the 1880s.
© AP/Dave KolpackTim Jones plows the road to his residence between Fargo and Wild Rice, N.D. on Feb. 13, 2014.
- Number of subzero days this winter: 61 through Feb. 27.
- All-time record is 72 days in the winter of 1916-1917.
- Number of subzero days this winter: 48 through Feb. 27.
- This ties as the most subzero days ever recorded in an entire cold season.
- Number of subzero days this winter: 46 through Feb. 27.
- This ties 1978-1979 and 1883-1884 as the eighth most for a season. The Twin Cities will likely enter the top five this weekend when the number reaches 49.
© AP/Jim MoneA pedestrian makes a hasty crossing on a downtown Minneapolis street Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014.
- Number of subzero days this winter: 47 through Feb. 27
- This is the seventh most for the period from Dec. 1 to Feb. 28.
- Number of subzero days this winter: 22 through Feb. 27.
- This ranks as the third most subzero days on record in the Windy City in the cold season. The all-time record is 25 days in the winter of 1884-85. Second place is a tie at 24 days in the winters of 1935-1936 and 1962-1963.
© Scott Olson/Getty ImagesSnow and ice covers the shoreline of Lake Michigan on February 18, 2014 near Chicago, Illinois.
No crops will be grown there, due to the cold. But that is only 1/2 the story. The other half is the revocation of water to grow crops in California's Central Valley. Add these two together, and the real effects become manifest to all who look.
Famine.
They have to know this. Nobody can miss it.
Our local paper reports the Bureau of Reclamation has decided to divert 350,000 acre feet to the Central Valley from the Trinity Reservoir. That is, debasined water whose natural destination is Eurkea, Calif on the coast, through an 11 mile tunnel to the Sacramento River basin drainage. The water is strictly for habitat preservation, and not a drop for crops.
NOT A DROP for CROPS.
The High Priests of Drought and Famine have spoken.
So let it be written.
So let it be done.
Oh, dear me, I almost forgot: "Let them eat cardboard".