Extreme Cold in Massachusetts, January 17, 2000

Name: Extreme Cold in Massachusetts, January 17, 2000
Start: 2000-01-17T03:00
End: 2000-01-17T12:00
Location: Massachusetts

January 17, 2000 · NWS ALY · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 extreme cold/wind chill, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

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Event by event

1 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Berkshire

When: January 17, 3:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where: Berkshire forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 42.371, -73.206 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A very large arctic high built southward from eastern Canada early on January 17. At the same, deep low pressure system settled in over the Canadian Maritimes. A strong pressure gradient developed between these two features resulting a northwest wind averaging between 15 and 30 miles an hour across the Berkshires. At the same time, temperatures plummeted to between zero and 10 below. The combination of the very low temperatures and the strong wind, produced dangerously low wind chill values in the 50 to 60 below zero range. The dangerous wind chills persisted well into the midday hours despite bright sunshine.

What these are

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill: Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Massachusetts in 2000 Every state in 2000 This day in weather history Warnings in Massachusetts, January 2000

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5127517.