In 2023, Omaha did not get below zero the entire year, the first time that has happened since 1941. Into 2024, we look to break that streak in a major way as a surge of arctic air plunges Omaha well below 0 beginning Friday night and lasting until Tuesday morning. Combined with the wind, wind chill values could drop as low as -30 to -40 at times according to the current forecast.
With the cold air coming in, is it that common to see temperatures this cold across Nebraska and Iowa? Will this break records? When have we been colder? Find out in this blog post!
These kinds of cold snaps are certainly uncommon, but they are not rare. Nebraska and Iowa typically see a frigid temperature plunge like the one coming up about once every 1-2 years. The previous cold snap of this magnitude was in the days leading up to Christmas 2022, temperatures on December 22 hit a low of -14 and a high of -2 for Omaha, with winds bringing wind chill values as low as -40 degrees at times.
Before December 2022, the next big cold snap to look back on is February 2021. Between February 11 and February 16, temperatures hardly rose above zero through the period. The only time we hit above zero was a high of 5 on February 13th. Many might remember this cold snap from the Texas freeze that crippled the power grid across the state, causing those in the Heartland to conserve their power for those in Texas.
Before February 2021, although there were some cold snaps, they typically lasted only a day or two, or temperatures did not plunge below -15 degrees. On New Year's Day 2018, the low temperature dropped to -20 degrees. Again in January 2010, temperatures once again dropped to -20 degrees.
Further back, the longest cold snap came in December 1983, when temperatures did not rise above zero for an entire week right before Christmas. For those interested in what happened, there is a This Week in Weather History dedicated to it. Before that, the winters of 1977-1978 and 1978-1979 were unusually cold. To find some brutal prolonged cold, the winter of 1936, 1899, and much of the 1880s saw repeated cold snaps that froze Omaha.
In terms of records, will this get close to any? In terms of daily low-temperature records, probably not. Record lows on the dates of our cold snap are all below -20, and as of Thursday our coldest temperature in this stretch is -17 degrees.
What could be in the record books is our stretch of temperatures below zero. Beginning Saturday morning and lasting through Tuesday morning, temperatures will likely be below zero. How many hours below zero is uncertain, but if we go from Saturday afternoon through Tuesday morning, that would be about 2 1/2 days below zero! If we get over 2 days and 15 hours below zero (63 hours), then it would reach the top 4 longest stretches below zero for Omaha since 1948.
However way you slice it, this cold will be brutal for some. Be sure to take those cold weather precautions both inside and outside your home to keep you (and your energy bill) safe.
