Arctic air had been sitting and building in Canada since November. The pattern set up in such a way in early February, unleashing the full fury of this Arctic air. It has become the coldest stretch since the 1980s and you can make a case since the 1890s!
We had our coldest high since December 1989, the most consecutive days 15° or lower ever and the coldest Valentine's day ever and so on....
The previous record of days 15° or lower was set December 18-25, 1983.
The coldest morning was Tuesday, February 16th. We dropped to -13°, officially at KCI, but many locations in the area dropped to around -20° to -15°.
This was the third day in a row with a record low.
February 14, 2021: -6°, old record -4° set in 1936
February 15, 2021: -10°, old record -6° set in 1936
February 16, 2021: -13°, old record -8° set in 1979
In the region some locations came close to -30° for a low! Grand Island, NE dropped to -27°.
Will Rogers airport in Oklahoma City dropped to -14°! This is the coldest official temperature for them since February 12, 1899!
And we can't forget about the snow. Look at this snow cover chart for February 16, 2021! I am not sure I have ever seen anything like this with snow on the ground from the Gulf of Mexico to Mexico to Canada!
Here in Kansas City during this stretch we have seen just 2"-4" of snow. But, it has snowed on 10 consecutive days, February 6-15, 2021.
Warmer days are ahead as we make a run at 50° next week!
