Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Harrison
- When
- January 22, 6:00 PM CST to January 23, 11:00 AM CST
- Where
- Harrison forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 41.683, -95.817 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Extreme Cold in Iowa, January 22 to 23, 2003
Bitter cold wind chills spread over eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa during late Wednesday afternoon 1/22/03 continuing into late Thursday morning the 23rd. Temperatures fell into the single digits below zero by Wednesday evening as north winds of 10 to 20 mph prevailed over the area.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 8 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 8
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.
What happened
The episode as NWS OAX wrote it up.
Bitter cold wind chills spread over eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa during late Wednesday afternoon 1/22/03 continuing into late Thursday morning the 23rd. Temperatures fell into the single digits below zero by Wednesday evening as north winds of 10 to 20 mph prevailed over the area. This combination resulted in wind chill values of 20 below to 30 below zero over all of eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa. Actual temperatures finally bottomed out around 8 below to 15 below Thursday morning. Although winds also subsided as readings fell overnight...wind chill values continued around 20 below or a little colder until late Thursday morning.A homeless man in the Omaha, Nebraska area suffered severe frostbite because of the extreme cold, eventually dying 3 days later in an Omaha hospital.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
8 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Fremont
- When
- January 22, 6:00 PM CST to January 23, 11:00 AM CST
- Where
- Fremont forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 40.746, -95.605 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Mills
- When
- January 22, 6:00 PM CST to January 23, 11:00 AM CST
- Where
- Mills forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 41.034, -95.621 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Monona
- When
- January 22, 6:00 PM CST to January 23, 11:00 AM CST
- Where
- Monona forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 42.052, -95.960 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Montgomery
- When
- January 22, 6:00 PM CST to January 23, 11:00 AM CST
- Where
- Montgomery forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 41.030, -95.156 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Page
- When
- January 22, 6:00 PM CST to January 23, 11:00 AM CST
- Where
- Page forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 40.739, -95.150 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Pottawattamie
- When
- January 22, 6:00 PM CST to January 23, 11:00 AM CST
- Where
- Pottawattamie forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 41.337, -95.542 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Shelby
- When
- January 22, 6:00 PM CST to January 23, 11:00 AM CST
- Where
- Shelby forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 41.685, -95.310 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
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
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, January 22 to 23, 2003
- High Wind in Alaska, January 22 to 24, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Alabama, January 22, 2003
- Winter Storm in Tennessee, January 22 to 23, 2003
- Winter Weather in Kentucky, January 22, 2003
- Winter Weather in Illinois, January 22, 2003
- Winter Weather in Missouri, January 22, 2003
- Winter Storm in Montana, January 22, 2003
- Winter Storm in Montana, January 22, 2003
- Winter Weather in Indiana, January 22, 2003
- Heavy Snow in North Carolina, January 22 to 23, 2003
- Winter Storm in Kansas, January 22, 2003
More
Every storm in Iowa in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, January 2003
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: 5338620, 5338621, 5338622, 5338623, 5338624, 5338625, 5338626, 5338627.