Extreme Cold in Iowa, January 5 to 6, 2014

Name: Extreme Cold in Iowa, January 5 to 6, 2014
Start: 2014-01-05T18:00
End: 2014-01-06T17:00
Location: Iowa

January 5 to 6, 2014 · NWS OAX · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

S. on January 5th and 6th bringing wind chill values of 25 below to 35 below zero or colder from the afternoon of the 5th through the afternoon of the 6th to eastern Nebraska and western Iowa.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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.

Arctic high pressure pushed down into the central U.S. on January 5th and 6th bringing wind chill values of 25 below to 35 below zero or colder from the afternoon of the 5th through the afternoon of the 6th to eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. Actual temperatures across the area fell into the single digits above zero during the afternoon of January 5th and by the morning of January 6th they fell to around 10 below or colder over much of the area. Readings only recovered back into the single digits by the afternoon of the 6th. With the initial Arctic surge during the afternoon of January 5th, northwest winds reached 25 to 35 mph with gusts into the 40s. The winds decreased overnight, and actually dropped off to around 10 mph for a while toward sunrise. However, winds picked back up into the 15 to 25 mph range during the daylight hours of January 6th before decreasing later that afternoon.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Omaha, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 5, 5:20 PM CST, 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 5, 5:20 PM CST, 40 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 5, 3:14 PM CST, 2 hours 46 minutes before

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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

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

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Monona

When: January 5, 6:00 PM CST to January 6, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Monona forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations
Coordinates: 42.052, -95.960 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Harrison

When: January 5, 6:00 PM CST to January 6, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Harrison forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations
Coordinates: 41.683, -95.817 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Shelby

When: January 5, 6:00 PM CST to January 6, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Shelby forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations
Coordinates: 41.685, -95.310 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Pottawattamie

When: January 5, 8:00 PM CST to January 6, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Pottawattamie forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations
Coordinates: 41.337, -95.542 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Mills

When: January 5, 8:00 PM CST to January 6, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Mills forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations
Coordinates: 41.034, -95.621 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Montgomery

When: January 5, 8:00 PM CST to January 6, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Montgomery forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations
Coordinates: 41.030, -95.156 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Page

When: January 5, 9:00 PM CST to January 6, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Page forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations
Coordinates: 40.739, -95.150 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Fremont

When: January 5, 9:00 PM CST to January 6, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Fremont forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations
Coordinates: 40.746, -95.605 (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

Every storm in Iowa in 2014 Every state in 2014 This day in weather history Warnings in Iowa, January 2014

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: 482772, 482773, 482774, 482775, 482776, 482777, 482778, 482779.