Extreme Cold/Wind Chill in Washington
Every extreme cold/wind chill event the National Weather Service has filed in Washington, 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 Washington.
- 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
- 44
- Deaths
- 1
- Injuries
- 0
- Damage
- $65 million
Every year
The most significant
Ranked by deaths, injuries, damage and size together.
- Extreme Cold and Heavy Snow in Washington, November 21 to 24, 2010An Arctic cold front combined with Pacific moisture to produce widespread heavy snowfall and very cold temperatures. Snow and ice created dangerous driving conditions which led to numerous accidents. Two fatalities occurred near Tieton on November 22.
- Extreme Cold in Washington, November 1 to 4, 2002An arctic front moved through the state on October 29th, bringing much colder temperatures into the first four days of November.
- Extreme Cold in Washington, December 27, 2021A strong ridge of high pressure over the Northeast Pacific Ocean put the region into a strong northerly flow and allowed for an intrusion of cold, dry Arctic air. The low temperatures averaged about 15 to 30 degrees below normal for the last week of the year.
- Extreme Cold in Washington, October 30 to 31, 2002An arctic front moved through the state on October 29th, ushering in very cold temperatures. The coldest morning occurred on October 31st, where many all time low temperatures for the month of October were broken.
- Extreme Cold in Washington, November 24, 2010An arctic air mass, fresh snow cover, and clear skies resulted in extremely cold temperatures on the morning of November 24th in the Columbia basin and portions of the immediate surrounding area.
- Extreme Cold in Washington, December 6 to 7, 2013An arctic air mass spilled into the Inland Northwest between the 6th and 7th of December.
- Extreme Cold in Washington, December 8, 2013A strong Arctic front pushed in from Canada and brought very cold temperatures and dangerous wind chills to the area.
- Extreme Cold in Washington, February 5 to 6, 2014An Arctic air mass spilled into the Inland Northwest between the 4th and 5th of February.
- Extreme Cold in Washington, December 21 to 22, 2022A strong northerly pressure gradient after the passage of an artic frontal boundary facilitated a period of extremely cold to hazardous wind chills, focused the evening of December 21st through the morning of the 22nd.
- Extreme Cold in Washington, May 6 to 7, 2002Area low temperatures reached into the mid 20s to lower 30s. Snowfall was reported down to valley floor.
- Extreme Cold in Washington, November 27 to 28, 2006Very cold arctic air channeling through the Okanogan Valley resulted in very low wind chill readings. North winds of 20-30 MPH combined with temperature in the single digits led to wind chill readings as cold as -20 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Extreme Cold in Washington, November 28 to 29, 2006Northerly winds of 5 to 15 mph down the Okanogan Valley combined with temperatures near 0 degrees resulted in wind chill readings as low as -20 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Extreme Cold in Washington, December 15 to 16, 2008Very cold wind chill readings of near or below minus 20 Fahrenheit were recorded in Douglas.
- Extreme Cold in Washington, December 7 to 9, 2009Very cold temperatures and a lack of snow cover led to frozen water pipes at several residences on the Washington Palouse. High temperatures in the teens and low temperatures near zero degrees Fahrenheit were observed during this period.
- Extreme Cold in Washington, December 6 to 7, 2013Cold air from a strong High East of the Cascades combined with strong east winds resulted in extremely cold wind chills for the Washington Cascades.
- Extreme Cold in Washington, February 5 to 6, 2014An Arctic air mass combined with strong easterly winds resulted in extremely low wind chill values for the Cascades.
More
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill everywhereEvery kind of event in Washington
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.