Recent State Minimum Temperature Records in the Midwest

Abstract

State minimum temperature records were set or tied in Indiana (?37.8°C) and Kentucky (?38.3°C) in January 1994, and in Illinois (?37.2°C), Iowa (?43.9°C), Minnesota (?51.1°C), and Wisconsin (?48.3°C) in February 1996. The veracity of these temperatures was examined in the context of the large?scale synoptic situation, station location and history, observer, local terrain, instrumentation, and other factors related to extreme temperatures. New state minimum temperature records for states listed above were found to be acceptable; however, a state minimum initially reported for Michigan (?46.7°C) in January 1994 was found to be unreliable and not accepted as a state record.