This Day in Weather History January 16

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

2009: Bitterly cold air settled across Iowa for several days in mid-January. The lowest temperatures were generally reached on the morning of the 16th when Waterloo tied its all-time record with a low of -34 F and Coggon in far northern Linn County dropped to -40 F, the lowest temperature recorded in the state in nearly 13 years. Other reported low temperatures included -39 F at Elkader, -38 F at Belle Plaine, -37 F at Lowden, and -36 F at Maquoketa.

1993: No snow fell at Sioux City for the first time since December 27th of the previous year ending a record streak of 19 consecutive days with at least a trace of snowfall at the airport.

1982: Blizzard conditions struck northwestern Iowa for the second straight weekend, when a couple inches of new snow and several inches already on the ground were whipped up by winds as high as 45 mph with gusts up to 60 mph into drifts around 10 feet deep. Low temperatures on the morning of the 16th included -20 F at Red Oak, -22 F at Indianola and Muscatine, -23 F at Northwood, -24 F at Boone, and -25 F at Maquoketa and the strong winds combined with the bitter cold temperatures to generate dangerous wind chills of -50 to -100 F. Numerous deaths were attributed to this storm.

Source: National Weather Service