Cold/Wind Chill

Events

19,133

Deaths

773

Injuries

343

Damage

$2.1 billion

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.

• Extreme Cold and Cold in Texas, February 12 to 16, 202155 deaths · $61 million · 33 eventsRecord cold and windy conditions gripped Southeast Texas behind the passage of an Arctic front. The extreme cold and increased demand led to widespread power outages, loss of heat for many and led to the bursting of pipes with some losing water for many days.
• Cold in Tennessee, January 24 to 27, 20268 deaths · 68 eventsWhile 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.
• Cold in Ohio, February 1 to 17, 20217 deaths · 1 eventCold temperatures moved into Northeast Ohio during the first half of February 2021. These colder temperatures featured several nights with lows in the single digits and wind chills below zero.
• Cold in Louisiana, January 24 to 27, 20267 deaths · 17 eventsA strong surge of Arctic air invaded Northern Louisiana during late January with bitterly cold temperatures and light northerly winds.
• Cold in Kentucky, February 15 to 20, 20156 deaths · 1 injured · 6 eventsAn arctic outbreak brought frigid air to central Kentucky, which not only resulted in one of the heaviest snowfalls in a decade for the state, but led to several hypothermia fatalities as well.
• Cold in Tennessee, February 17 to 21, 20156 deaths · 3 eventsArctic air plunged into the Mid-South from the middle to latter part of February. Highs remained below freezing while low temperatures dropped into the single digits. A few locations even recorded temperatures below zero.
• Cold in Wisconsin, December 25 to 31, 20176 deaths · 20 eventsBitterly cold air and wind chill temperatures prevailed over southern WI from Christmas Day through January 6th. Wind chill temperatures of 20 below to 34 below zero occurred at times with low temperatures below zero for most nights.
• Cold in Illinois, December 21 to 25, 20085 deaths · 1 eventVery cold air spread across northern Illinois starting on December 21st and continuing through December 25th. Low temperatures dropped to 5 below to 10 below zero on the 21st and 22nd, and were in the low single digits on the 23rd, 24th and 25th.
• Cold in Illinois, December 3 to 7, 20105 deaths · 2 eventsThree people died from cold exposure in Cook County on December 5th and 6th including a 34 year old man in Chicago; a 69 year old man in Hanover Park and a 50 year old woman in Palos Park.
• Cold in Tennessee, January 2 to 15, 20105 deaths · 3 eventsThe most profound cold snap to occur in at least 14 years over West Tennessee occurred during the first two weeks of January 2010. Highs in Memphis stayed below freezing for 11 out of 13 days between January 2nd and January 14th.
• Frost and Freeze and Cold in California, November 27 to 29, 20195 deaths · 7 eventsAfter some active weather, skies began to clear and temperatures dropped. Cold overnight lows affected the region for a few days at the end of November. Santa Rosa tied a daily record low for November 29th of 25 degrees F.
• Ice Storm and Heavy Snow in Washington, January 11 to 17, 20245 deaths · 56 kt wind · 18 eventsA modified Arctic front moved into Western Washington. After producing some locally heavy snowfall on the Olympic Peninsula, it was followed by strong Fraser River outflow winds and several days of cold temperatures when a number of record low temperature records were set.
• Cold in Ohio, January 10 to 19, 19974 deaths · $195,000 · 30 eventsLow temperatures were in the single digits or below zero across all of Northern Ohio, causing frozen and ruptured water pipes. With wind chills of 40 to 50 below zero, many schools were forced to close.
• Cold in Wisconsin, February 1 to 4, 19964 deaths · 18 injured · 20 eventsThe episode of extreme cold, which started in late January, 1996, continued through the first four days of February across Southcentral and Southeast Wisconsin.
• Cold in Texas, January 22, 19964 deaths · 1 eventOvernight temperatures fell into the mid to upper teens two consecutive nights and several homeless people were found frozen to death around the city.
• Cold in Pennsylvania, January 14 to 29, 20034 deaths · 10 eventsA cold frontal passage on the 13th initiated about a two week run of unseasonably cold weather, even by January standards across Eastern Pennsylvania. There were four cold related deaths in Southeastern Pennsylvania. All were found in unheated homes.
• Cold in New Jersey, January 28, 20054 deaths · 21 eventsThe combination of light winds courtesy of being located under a large high pressure system and snow cover produced for many locations one of the coldest mornings of the winter season in New Jersey.
• Cold in Illinois, December 18 to 22, 20054 deaths · 1 eventVery cold temperatures continued into the middle of December. Low temperatures dropped into the single digits for 5 days in a row, with the morning of December 19th the coldest of the entire month, with a low of one degree below zero.
• Cold in Illinois, December 28 to 31, 20094 deaths · 3 eventsA 55 year old woman died due to cold exposure on Kolmar Street in Chicago on December 29th. Low temperatures were in the single digits. A 58 year old man died from cold exposure in Mount Vernon Park on Aberdeen Street in Chicago on December 31st.
• Cold in Illinois, January 1 to 5, 20104 deaths · 2 eventsVery cold air spread across northern Illinois in early January with high temperatures in the teens and low temperatures in the single digits. The coldest low temperature was 1 degree below zero at O'Hare Airport, which was measured on the morning of January 3rd.
• Extreme Cold and Cold in Pennsylvania, January 22, 20144 deaths · 13 eventsStrong northwest winds behind the departing strong low pressure system coupled with another arctic air mass dropped low temperatures on the morning of the 22nd around zero (well below zero in the Poconos) and produced wind chill factors as low as around 15 degrees below zero,…
• Cold in Oregon, January 1 to 11, 20174 deaths · 1 eventA low pressure system dropping south across the area and a trailing ridge of high pressure brought cold temperatures to Northwest Oregon. The cold temperatures lead to four fatalities in the Portland area.
• Cold in Michigan, January 1 to 7, 20184 deaths · 14 eventsA prolonged cold spell gripped southeast Michigan January 1st to January 7th leading to the deaths of at least 4 people in the Detroit Metro Area.
• Cold in Tennessee, February 13 to 21, 20214 deaths · 1 injured · 18 eventsAn arctic airmass settled over the region in the wake of a departing winter storm. Snow cover combined with clear skies and diminishing winds to produce the coldest night across much of the Mid-South since 1989.
• Cold in California, December 13 to 14, 20224 deaths · 1 eventPersistent cold pattern caused several mornings of near and sub-freezing temperatures around the Bay Area and Central Coast. This was the second major cold event of the season and the most widespread.

• Cold in South Carolina, March 16, 2017$750 million · 15 events
• Cold in California, December 20 to 27, 1998$596 million · 2 events
• Cold in Florida, January 19, 1997$200 million · 8 events
• Cold in California, April 10, 1999$131 million · 2 events
• Cold in Florida, February 5, 1996$75 million · 10 events
• Cold in Alabama, March 7 to 10, 1996$52 million · 50 events
• Extreme Cold and Cold in Texas, February 12 to 16, 202159 deaths · $49 million · 33 events
• Cold in Texas, February 14 to 16, 2021$31 million · 31 events
• Cold in Pennsylvania, April 9 to 11, 1997$25 million · 10 events
• Cold in Pennsylvania, April 9 to 11, 1997$25 million · 3 events
• Cold in Louisiana, February 2 to 5, 19961 death · $20 million · 27 events
• Cold in South Carolina, March 8, 1996$20 million · 15 events
• Cold in Texas, February 13 to 18, 2021$17 million · 17 events
• Cold in Mississippi, January 1 to 14, 20103 deaths · $15 million · 47 events
• Cold in Iowa, September 21, 1999$15 million · 51 events
• Cold in Colorado, April 16, 1999$8.8 million · 1 event
• Cold in Louisiana, March 7 to 10, 1996$7.2 million · 3 events
• Cold in Mississippi, January 31, 20261 death · $5.8 million · 22 events
• Cold in Iowa, May 1 to 31, 1996$5.1 million · 58 events
• Cold in Ohio, February 2 to 5, 19961 death · $3.4 million · 30 events
• Cold in Louisiana, January 7 to 10, 20101 death · $3.0 million · 17 events
• Cold in Texas, April 24 to 27, 1997$2.4 million · 2 events
• Cold in California, December 19 to 29, 1998$2.4 million · 5 events
• Cold in Texas, January 7 to 10, 2010$2.1 million · 21 events
• Cold in Michigan, May 16, 1997$2.0 million · 1 event

• Thunderstorm Wind
• Hail
• Flash Flood
• High Wind
• Winter Storm
• Drought
• Winter Weather
• Tornado
• Heavy Snow
• Flood
• Marine Thunderstorm Wind
• Heat
• Heavy Rain
• Strong Wind
• Excessive Heat
• Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
• Cold/Wind Chill
• Lightning
• Dense Fog
• Blizzard
• Frost/Freeze
• Ice Storm
• High Surf
• Funnel Cloud
• Wildfire
• Tropical Storm
• Waterspout
• Coastal Flood
• Lake-Effect Snow
• Debris Flow
• Hurricane (Typhoon)
• Dust Storm
• Rip Current
• Storm Surge/Tide
• Marine High Wind
• Sleet
• Avalanche
• Marine Hail
• Astronomical Low Tide
• Marine Tropical Storm
• Tropical Depression
• Freezing Fog
• Lakeshore Flood
• Dust Devil
• Marine Strong Wind
• Dense Smoke
• Marine Hurricane/Typhoon
• Volcanic Ashfall
• Seiche
• Sneakerwave
• Volcanic Ash
• Tsunami
• Marine Tropical Depression
• Marine Dense Fog
• Northern Lights
• Marine Lightning
• Hurricane

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.