Remembering Minnesota’s Record-breaking Cold Snap 30 Years Ago Today

Everybody who lived through the 1990s always brings up the 1991 Halloween Blizzard. It was an epic snowstorm that dumped feet of snow across Minnesota and Wisconsin. But people forget about another historic weather event in the 1990s. It was the day we had the lowest recorded temperature in Minnesota at an astonishing 60F.

Tower, Minnesota 1996 Record Low -60F

Near Tower, Minnesota, the overnight low was -60F. That's not wind chill, that was the actual air temperature. I was 12 years old at the time and lived just a few miles away in Biwabik, Minnesota. I remember that week. It was so cold that your eyelashes would freeze in seconds if you had to go outside. Hardly anyone's cars would start. We would get up in the middle of the night to start out vehicles and let them run for an hour just to warm them up and charge the battery a little. With any luck, they would start up in time for work or school.

Minnesota Governor Cancelled School Statewide

Governor Arne Carlson cancelled school due to the extreme cold for all Minnesota schools. It was one of three times he cancelled school because of the dangerous conditions. The last time a Minnesota governor cancelled school because of a dangerous cold was in 2014 by Mark Dayton.

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Frozen Pipes + Water Mains

Lots of people were without water during the coldest days of 1996, as water mains broke, home pipes froze, and other cold-weather challenges surfaced.