Day After Tomorrow wind chill felt in North America, record smashed

Tyler Hamilton Meteorologist

Published on Feb. 4, 2023

Saturday morning's wind chill at the Mount Washington Observatory shattered a previous benchmark for the site -- reaching an incomprehensible -78. By all accounts, this is the coldest wind chill ever recorded in the U.S.

In the early hours of Saturday, temperatures at the Mount Washington Observatory tied a record-low value of -44°C.

These values are extreme, but the wind chill shattered a previous benchmark for the site -- reaching an incomprehensible -78. By all accounts, this is the coldest wind chill ever recorded in the U.S.

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These values are routinely cooler than what’s experienced on Mars, and occurred as a lobe of the stratospheric polar vortex folded across the troposphere, the lowest level of the atmosphere.

You must be wondering what kind of wind speeds must be attained to hit such surreal wind chills. A gust of 204 km/h was recorded as the stratospheric polar vortex slid across the area.
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The video of the summit of the observatory was equally as impressive, and what’s even more extraordinary is the summit is permanently staffed by crews who maintain the stations and conduct experiments.




The previous cold snap that brought comparable temperatures occurred in January 2004, when the wind chill fell to -75 at the summit.

Lower elevations certainly weren’t off the hook, with temperatures across Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada falling to levels not experienced in decades in the month of February.



In fact, with such cold winds resulting from a powerful low churning in the Labrador Sea, all-time wind chill values were recorded in Eastern Canada.