Winter in Missouri can certainly be a mixed bag, but there’s one thing of which we can usually be assured. We’ll experience some downright frigid days that keep us counting down the days until spring. Missouri generally experiences an average of 110 days of temperatures that dip below 32 degrees. However, two winters were so cold that it barely made it to freezing all winter, tying for the coldest winter in Missouri.
Missourians are used to the cold, but two winters stand out as the coldest in Missouri’s history. Both the winter of 1904-05 and 1977-78 were so cold that temperatures averaged 24.3 degrees Fahrenheit all season long.
Flickr/Vincent Parsons
Prior to the 1977-78 winter, Missouri experienced its coldest month on record, to date. January 1977 posted an average daily temperature of just 13.6 degrees. The average high came in at 22.6 with an average low of 4.6.
Flickr/20after4
That Missouri winter set several records, including the record for the most snowfall in a season, tallying 54.4 inches.
Flickr/KOMU News
Statistics from the Missouri Climate Center show that the 1970s saw three of the coldest winters in Missouri’s history. The cold streak began during the winter of 1976-77 (it’s the fifth coldest winter on record) and continued through 1978-79 (the third coldest winter on record).
Flickr/Vincent Parsons
While those winters in Missouri were downright frigid, the coldest temperature ever recorded occurred in Warsaw on February 13, 1905. The temperature dipped to negative 40 degrees.
Flickr/Heath Cajundig
Just a few years later, during the winter of 1982-83, Missouri saw its smallest snowfall – just four inches – in recorded history. Average snowfall annually depends on in which area of Missouri you live.
Flickr/Jo Naylor
It wasn’t until 1983 that Missouri would break another record with the coldest December in history. Temperatures that December averaged 17.6 degrees.
Flickr/Paul Sabelman
Do you remember the coldest winter in Missouri? If not, what is the coldest Missouri winter you remember? Let us know in the comments! If you’re up for a bit of cold weather fun, even though it might not be as cold as the winter of 1977-78, plan a visit to one of the snowiest towns in Missouri.
Flickr/Vincent Parsons
Flickr/20after4
Flickr/KOMU News
Flickr/Heath Cajundig
Flickr/Jo Naylor
Flickr/Paul Sabelman
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