The Great Blizzard of 1899, also known as the Great Arctic Outbreak of 1899 and the St. Valentine's Day Blizzard, was an exceptionally severe winter weather event that affected most of the United States, particularly east of the Rocky Mountains. On February 11, Swift Current in present-day Saskatchewan reported a record-high barometric pressure of .

Temperatures and records

thumb|upright=1.2|Temperature map of the United States during the storm

For the 1895–2017 period of record:

  • February 1899 was the second-coldest February in the contiguous U.S. (behind only 1936). The average temperature was , which was colder than the 1895–2017 average of and warmer than February 1936.
  • December 1898 through February 1899 was the third-coldest meteorological winter in the contiguous U.S., with the coldest winter occurring in 1978–79 and the second-coldest in 1935–36. The average temperature was , which was colder than the 1895–2017 average of and warmer than the 1978–79 winter.
  • February 1899 was the coldest February in Kansas, Missouri, and Wyoming.
  • February 1899 was the second-coldest February in Arkansas, Colorado, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. The climate regions are defined by the National Centers for Environmental Information.

Northeast

thumb|Snowball fight on the steps of the [[Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee on February 10, 1899]]

For the 1895–2017 period of record in the Northeast climate region:

  • February 1899 was the 18th-coldest February. The average temperature was , which was colder than the 1895–2017 average of and warmer than the coldest February of 1934.
  • December 1898 through February 1899 was the 24th-coldest meteorological winter. The average temperature was , which was colder than the 1895–2017 average of and warmer than the coldest winter of 1917–18.

Connecticut

Equal 16th-coldest February, 1895–2017.

  • Hartford:
  • Milford:
  • Seaford:
  • Flaggstaff:
  • Kineo:
  • Annapolis:
  • College Park:
  • Boston:
  • Milton:
  • Concord:
  • Grafton:
  • Temperatures not available: Derry, Dover, Hudson, Londonderry, Manchester, Merrimack, Rochester, Salem

New Jersey

Eleventh-coldest February, 1895–2017.

  • Atlantic City:
  • Cape May:
  • Albany:
  • Buffalo:
  • New York City - Central Park:
  • Rochester:
  • Erie:
  • Hamburg: tied for all-time record for February
  • Harrisburg: all-time record for February
  • Philadelphia:
  • Scranton:
  • Kingston:
  • Burlington:
  • Montpelier: not available
  • Northfield:
  • December 1898 through February 1899 was the eighth-coldest meteorological winter. The average temperature was , which was colder than the 1895–2017 average of and warmer than the coldest winter of 1978–79.

Montana

Second-coldest February, 1895–2017.

  • Adel: second-coldest ever
  • Billings (water treatment plant): all-time record
  • Chinook:
  • Ekalaka:
  • Great Falls:
  • Alliance:
  • Bridgeport:
  • Culbertson: all-time record
  • Hay Springs: all-time record as of July 31, 2012
  • Kimball: all-time record for February
  • Lodgepole: tied with February 8, 1936, for all-time record
  • Ashley: tied with February 1, 1893, and February 2, 1905, for second-lowest ever
  • Bismarck:
  • Dickinson:
  • Grand Forks:
  • Aberdeen:
  • Alexandria: tied with February 2, 1905, and January 13, 1916, for second-lowest ever and tied for all-time record for February
  • De Smet: second-lowest ever and all-time record for February
  • Spearfish:
  • Basin: all-time record
  • Cheyenne:
  • Evanston:
  • Laramie:
  • December 1898 through February 1899 was the 19th-coldest meteorological winter. The average temperature was , which was colder than the 1895–2017 average of and warmer than the coldest winter of 1948–49.

Idaho

Nineteenth-coldest February, 1895–2017.

  • Boise:
  • Idaho Falls:
  • Riggins: all-time record for February
  • Temperatures not available: Caldwell, Coeur d'Alene, Meridian, Nampa, Post Falls, Twin Falls

Oregon

Fourteenth-coldest February, 1895–2017.

  • Corvallis: all-time record for February
  • Eugene:
  • Pullman:
  • Seattle:
  • Spokane:
  • Vancouver:
  • Temperatures not available: Bellevue, Everett, Federal Way, Kent, Renton, Yakima

Ohio Valley

For the 1895–2017 period of record in the Ohio Valley climate region:

  • February 1899 was the equal third-coldest February alongside 1905, with the coldest being 1978 and the second-coldest 1895. The average temperature was , which was colder than the 1895–2017 average of and warmer than February 1978.
  • December 1898 through February 1899 was the ninth-coldest meteorological winter. The average temperature was , which was colder than the 1895–2017 average of and warmer than the coldest winter of 1977–78.

Illinois

Sixth-coldest February, 1895–2017.

  • Albion: all-time record as of December 31, 2006
  • Champaign: tied with February 13, 1905, January 19, 1994, and January 5, 1999, for all-time record
  • Chicago: all-time record for February
  • Fairfield: all-time record for February
  • Joliet:
  • Ottawa: tied for all-time record for February
  • Anderson: all-time record for February
  • Angola: all-time record for February
  • Bloomington: all-time record for February
  • Fort Wayne: all-time record for February
  • Ashland: tied for all-time record for February
  • Bowling Green:
  • Georgetown: (short period of record: 1896–1902)
  • Hopkinsville:
  • Owensboro:
  • Bowling Green: all-time record
  • Columbia: all-time record
  • Caruthersville: all-time record
  • Marble Hill: all-time record
  • Maryville: tied for all-time record for February
  • Akron: all-time record for February
  • Bellefontaine: all-time record for February
  • Canton:
  • McConnellsville: all-time record for February (as of March 31, 2012)
  • Portsmouth: all-time record for February
  • Temperatures not available: Lorain, Parma, Youngstown

Tennessee

Fourth-coldest February, 1895–2017.

  • Carthage: all-time record for February
  • Chattanooga: tied with January 31, 1966, and January 21, 1985, for all-time record
  • Clarksville: all-time record for February
  • Knoxville: tied for all-time record for February
  • Tellico Plains: all-time record
  • Beckley: all-time record for February
  • Buckhannon: all-time record
  • Morgantown: all-time record
  • New Cumberland: all-time record
  • December 1898 through February 1899 is tied with 1904–05 for the coldest meteorological winter of all time. The average temperature was , which was colder than the 1895–2017 average of .

Arkansas

Second-coldest February, 1895–2017.

  • Amity: all-time record
  • Corning: all-time record
  • Fayetteville: all-time record
  • Fort Smith: all-time record
  • Abilene: all-time record
  • Atchison: all-time record for February
  • Concordia: all-time record for February
  • Concordia: all-time record for February
  • Fall River Lake: tied for all-time record for February
  • Yates Center: all-time record
  • Alexandria: all-time record
  • Bastrop: all-time record
  • Baton Rouge: all-time record
  • Franklin: all-time record all-time record for Louisiana
  • Aberdeen: all-time record
  • Biloxi:
  • Canton: all-time record for February
  • Anadarko: tied with January 4, 1947, and December 23, 1989, for all-time record (as of December 4, 2016)
  • Beaver: all-time record
  • Guthrie: all-time record for February
  • Healdton: all-time record
  • Abilene: second all-time record for February
  • Amarillo: all-time record
  • Austin: second-lowest ever
  • Blanco: tied with January 31, 1949, for all-time record
  • Brownsville: all-time record
  • College Station: all-time record for February
  • Crosbyton: all-time record
  • Dallas & Fort Worth: all-time record
  • Danevang: all-time record
  • Galveston: all-time record
  • New Braunfels: tied with January 31, 1949, and December 23, 1989, for all-time record (as of December 19, 2017)
  • Tulia: all-time record for Texas, which Seminole tied on February 8, 1933
  • December 1898 through February 1899 was the 21st-coldest meteorological winter. The average temperature was , which was colder than the 1895–2017 average of and warmer than the coldest winter of 1976–77.

Alabama

Fifth-coldest February, 1895–2017.

  • Ashville:
  • Decatur:
  • Montgomery: all-time record
  • Oneonta: all-time record

Florida

51st-coldest February, 1895–2017.

  • Bartow: all-time record for February
  • Inverness: all-time record for February
  • Lake Butler:
  • Miami Beach:
  • Ocala: all-time record for February
  • Plant City: all-time record for February for Florida
  • Tarpon Springs: all-time record for February
  • Atlanta: all-time record
  • Americus: all-time record for February
  • Blakely: all-time record
  • Clayton: second-lowest for February
  • Waycross: second-lowest ever
  • Temperatures not available: Albany, Athens, Brunswick, Macon, Statesboro, Saluda, Tifton, Toccoa, Valdosta

North Carolina

Twelfth-coldest February, 1895–2017.

  • Cape Hatteras: second-lowest ever for February
  • Chapel Hill: all-time record for February
  • Charlotte: tied with December 30, 1880, and January 21, 1985, for all-time record
  • Fayetteville: all-time record
  • Temperatures not available: Asheville, Boone, Concord, Durham, Elizabeth City, Gastonia, Greensboro, High Point, Lenoir, Lumberton, Morganton, Winston-Salem

South Carolina

20th-coldest February, 1895–2017.

  • Charleston: all-time record at Downtown Charleston
  • Greenville: all-time record for February
  • Summerville: all time record
  • Alexandria:
  • Blacksburg: all-time record for February
  • Charlottesville: all-time record for February
  • Dale Enterprise: all-time record for February
  • Richmond:
  • Warrenton: all-time record for February
  • December 1898 through February 1899 was the third-coldest meteorological winter, with the coldest winter being that of 1932–33 and the second-coldest that of 1948–49. The average temperature was , which was colder than the 1895–2017 average of and warmer than 1932–33.

Arizona

37th-coldest February, 1895–2017.

  • Fort Apache:
  • Prescott: all-time record for February
  • Tucson: all-time record for February
  • Willams: all-time record for February
  • Boulder:
  • Breckenridge:
  • Denver:
  • Pueblo:

New Mexico

Equal ninth-coldest February, 1895–2017.

  • Alamogordo:
  • Buckman:
  • Heber: all-time record
  • Logan:
  • December 1898 through February 1899 was the seventh-coldest meteorological winter. The average temperature was , which was colder than the 1895–2017 average of and warmer than the coldest winter of 1935–36.

Iowa

Third-coldest February, 1895–2017.

  • Ames:
  • Council Bluffs:
  • Dubuque:
  • Sioux City: all-time record for February
  • Spencer: all-time record for February
  • Ann Arbor:
  • Baldwin: all-time record
  • Battle Creek: all-time record
  • Grand Rapids: all-time record
  • Owosso:
  • Temperatures not available: Dearborn, Livonia, Sterling Heights, Warren

Minnesota

Fifth-coldest February, 1895–2017.

  • Bemidji: all-time record for February (as of November 29, 2004)
  • Brainerd:
  • Caledonia: tied for all-time record for February
  • Detroit Lakes: all-time record
  • Milaca:
  • Pokegama Falls:
  • Amherst:
  • Eau Claire: all-time record for February
  • Green Bay: all-time record for February
  • Manitowoc: all-time record
  • Medford: all-time record
  • Milwaukee:
  • December 1898 through February 1899 was the 38th-coldest meteorological winter. The average temperature was , which was colder than the 1895–2017 average of and warmer than the coldest winter of 1948–49.

California

47th-coldest February, 1895–2017.

  • Berkeley:
  • Fresno: tied for all-time record for February
  • Los Angeles:
  • San Francisco:
  • Temperatures not available: Anaheim, Bakersfield, Long Beach, San Jose

Nevada

52nd-coldest February, 1895–2017.

  • Carson City:
  • Elko:
  • Las Vegas:

On February 19, ice floes were reported to be moving out of the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico.

The low temperature in Miami, Florida on February 14 dropped to with a high of only . The city has only recorded a lower temperature twice since record-keeping commenced on September 6, 1895.

Casualties, damages, and inconveniences

The Great Arctic Outbreak of 1899 had disastrous impact across many areas of the continental U.S. and Cuba as people, livestock, and wildlife succumbed to the frigid cold. Bird populations were decimated across the nation. Henderson County, Tennessee saw nearly the complete extinction of its bluebird population, while Culpeper County alongside most northern and central Virginia counties lost nearly all of its quail, having to import new birds in the late teens and 1920s to repopulate the areas. Pine Warblers were also especially decimated.

Some of the bird species affected:

  • Bluebird
  • Blue-headed vireo
  • Catbirds
  • Chipping sparrow
  • Dark-eyed junco (also known as snowbird)
  • Fox sparrow
  • Grass finch
  • Hermit thrush
  • Killdeer
  • Meadowlark
  • Mourning dove
  • Pine warbler
  • Quail
  • Savannah sparrow
  • Song sparrow
  • Swamp sparrow
  • Woodcock

It has been estimated that over 100 people died. In Brooklyn, 31 year-old Mary Goodwin was frozen to death and a thinly clad, unidentified woman in The Dalles, Oregon was found frozen to death in a hallway in an attempt to find warmth. Mail carriers Palmer and Hawkins of New York were thought to have drowned attempting to deliver the mail. It is believed that their boat, overturned by the high winds, was crushed by the floating ice.

In Georgia, crops were ruined and orchards utterly destroyed. The majority of wheat at Walla Walla, Washington was frozen out, with Eureka Flat seeing the most damage.

Traffic was brought to a complete standstill in all parts of the country. Barges on the Mississippi river, which was in some parts entirely frozen through, and the Great Lakes were brought to a complete standstill by ice. Traffic across all railroads were delayed or paralyzed indefinitely and steamers and liners were likewise delayed.

Notes

References