Extreme Cold/Wind Chill in Missouri
Every extreme cold/wind chill event the National Weather Service has filed in Missouri, year by year, with the most significant episodes. Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.
The most significant on the map
The most significant extreme cold/wind chill episodes in Missouri.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The record
- Events
- 572
- Deaths
- 3
- Injuries
- 0
- Damage
- $325,000
Every year
The most significant
Ranked by deaths, injuries, damage and size together.
- Winter Storm and Extreme Cold in Missouri, December 22 to 24, 2022A storm system initially brought one to two hours of freezing drizzle during the early morning hours of December 22nd before precipitation changed over to light snow.
- Extreme Cold in Missouri, December 10 to 31, 2000Arctic air gripped the region from around the 10th of December, through the end of the month. Except for a few hours on the 15th and 16th, temperatures remained below freezing through the entire period. Snow cover persisted from the 13th through the end of the month.
- Extreme Cold in Missouri, December 29, 2001An 87 year old Woodson Terrace resident froze to death outside her home. She apparently went outside to get the mail, then fell near the back porch and was unable to get inside. The high temperature that day was 30 and the low 18.
- Extreme Cold in Missouri, January 1, 2018On the morning of January 1, 2018 temperatures across Kansas City dropped to -11. Light northwest winds contributed to wind chill values across the city dropping to 25 degrees below zero. As a result of the extreme cold at least one homeless person died.
- Winter Storm and Extreme Cold in Missouri, February 14 to 16, 2021An extended period of unseasonably cold weather gripped central and southwest Missouri between February 7 and February 18. The coldest temperatures and wind chills occurred from February 14 through February 16.
- Extreme Cold in Missouri, February 14 to 16, 2021On February 5, a cold air mass settled into the center part of the country, which caused temperatures to go below freezing. They would not return to the freezing/melting point until several weeks later. The worst of the cold snap occurred between February 14 through February 16.
- Extreme Cold in Missouri, December 12 to 31, 2000Abnormally cold air moved into the Ozarks by the middle of December as the main jet stream carved out a deep trough of low pressure over the eastern 2/3's of the nation. This pattern continued through the early part of January.
- Extreme Cold in Missouri, October 6 to 10, 2000An unusually strong early season Arctic high pressure system built into the central Plains on October 6-10. Temperatures did not climb out of the 40s on October 6-8.
- Extreme Cold in Missouri, December 22 to 23, 2022An Arctic air mass entered the region on the morning of December 22nd, plunging temperatures to below zero. Strong winds combined with the cold temperatures yielded wind chills between -25 and -40 below zero from roughly 10 am on 12/22 to noon on 12/23.
- Extreme Cold in Missouri, February 18 to 21, 2025Extremely cold temperatures and wind chills impacted portions of NW Missouri and NE Kansas Feb 18 into Feb 20.
- Extreme Cold in Missouri, January 1 to 3, 2001Abnormally cold temperatures continued from December into early January with readings 10 to 20 degrees below normal. Snow and ice covered fields and highways provided problems to drivers, farmers and ranchers.
- Extreme Cold in Missouri, February 20, 2025An anomalously cold airmass moved into the Ozarks region on February 19th, impacting areas into the early morning hours of February 20th. Low temperatures from zero to -15 degrees with wind chills in the -10 to -30 degree range were observed in most locations.
- Extreme Cold and Winter Weather in Missouri, January 13 to 14, 2024An anomalously cold airmass moved into the Ozarks on January 13th bringing high temperatures around Zero degrees with wind chills in -20 to -25 degree range for some locations.
- Extreme Cold in Missouri, December 16 to 17, 2000A strong cold front moved across the area the afternoon of December 16 bringing in a blast of Arctic air. Temperatures by 900 pm on the 16th had dropped into the single digits with wind chill values down to 30 below zero.
- Extreme Cold in Missouri, January 12 to 16, 2024Extremely cold temperatures and wind chills arrived by the evening of January 12th, and continued through January 16th. This cold air outbreak brought the wind chills since 1989 in many locations, including Kansas City.
- Winter Storm and Extreme Cold in Missouri, December 22 to 24, 2022A powerful cold front swept through the region, with wind chills dropping to 20 to 30 below zero. These were the coldest wind chills observed in over 25 years across the region. Paducah, KY dropped down to a -21 wind chill, which was the coldest since February 3, 1996.
- Extreme Cold in Missouri, December 12 to 31, 2000An invasion of arctic air occurred on December 12. The arctic air became permanently entrenched over the region for the remainder of the month, resulting in the coldest December on record at Paducah, KY. The average monthly temperature of 25.9 degrees was 11.4 below normal.
- Extreme Cold in Missouri, January 1 to 3, 2001The prolonged arctic freeze that began during the second week of December finally ended by January 4. During the first few days of the new year, temperatures averaged 15 to 25 degrees below normal. Overnight lows were in the single digits.
- Extreme Cold in Missouri, January 15, 2009In the wake of an arctic cold front, gusty northwest winds from 15 to 25 mph combined with a surge of arctic air to produce wind chills from minus 5 to minus 15 degrees.
- Extreme Cold in Missouri, February 6, 2014Cold air and north winds combined to bring wind chill values down to 30 degrees below zero.
- Extreme Cold and Cold in Missouri, February 19 to 20, 2025A Siberian airmass and an area of high pressure allowed for an extended period of sub-freezing temperatures that began on the 19th in the aftermath of a major snowstorm.
- Extreme Cold and Cold in Missouri, January 25 to 27, 2026A cold air mass with sub-freezing temperatures that originated from Siberia was reinforced by a major winter storm that brought a snowpack across portions of southeast Missouri on the 25th.
- Extreme Cold and Cold in Missouri, January 24 to 27, 2026While the wintry precipitation created the initial impacts, it was the multi-day period of subfreezing temperatures that prolonged and, in many cases, worsened those impacts.
- Extreme Cold and Cold in Missouri, February 20 to 21, 2025An extended period of sub-freezing temperatures that began on the 19th continued into the morning of the 21st as high pressure remained in control.
- Extreme Cold and Cold in Missouri, December 22 to 24, 2022The coldest airmass since December of 1989 descended upon the Mid-South right before Christmas.
More
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill everywhereEvery kind of event in Missouri
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 2026-09-24.