Record lows, record highs kick off an unusual Wisconsin winter

Winter returned with a vengeance in late December, as the areas around Madison were hit with record-setting low temperatures, before melting away to record highs in mid-January.

“One of the most unusual aspects, to my mind, of the cold period we had was how long it lasted without much moderation,” said Dr. Michael Morgan, a professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at UW-Madison. “It’s not impossible to get those sorts of periods, but it’s very unusual; we haven’t seen something like that in quite a while.”

After weeks of surprising warmth throughout December, temperatures plummeted, shattering over a thousand record lows throughout the Midwest, according to the Midwest Regional Climate Center.

Daily lows dipped between 10 degrees and 25 degrees below normal levels, reaching minus 40 in some northern parts of Minnesota.

Finally, in mid-January, the cold lifted, as a wave of warm air rushed into southern Wisconsin from the plains, breaking hundreds of record high temperatures in the area on Jan. 11 alone, as maximum temperatures across the region broke 50 degrees.

The warm front did not blanket the area evenly, however, with massive temperature ranges occurring across relatively short distances.

The coldest minimum temperature this morning in the Midwest was -39°F in Embarrass, MN, while the warmest was 53°F in Circleville, OH. That's a 92°F temperature difference! pic.twitter.com/PrssT91Zei

— MRCC (@MidwestClimate) January 12, 2018

“There will likely be some much below normal days left in the season given the persistence of this northwest flow,” Dr. Morgan said. “Normal highs for this time of year are in the mid-20s, with lows around 10 degrees.”

Despite the sudden climatological curveballs, the Midwest will now brace for what is usually the coldest part of the year.