Answer Man: The News-Leader showed in the weather section today a record low temperature for Feb. 12 of minus-29 degrees. Can you find any reporting from back then about this? — David Harper, of Springfield
It was a Sunday and it was part of what was later called the Great Blizzard of 1899 — as well as the Great Arctic Outbreak.
The Springfield Leader and Press reported the next day that due to bizarre weather conditions, the city of Springfield for a few hours on Feb. 12, 1899 — 124 years ago — held claim to being the coldest spot in the nation.
The minus-29 remains the coldest recorded temperature for Springfield.
The Great Blizzard of 1899 affected the entire nation, especially east of the Rockies, according to a 2019 post in the Missouri and Ozarks History blog.
It occurred in the first half of February, with the extreme cold Feb. 10-14. It was the coldest February on record for the United States until the mid-1930s.
Lead and zinc mines came to standstill
A Feb. 8, 1899 report from Joplin stated the freeze brought the area lead and zinc mines to a virtual standstill.
The Page 1 weather story in the Springfield Leader and Press the next day explained a bizarre weather phenomenon. It stated:
“Most remarkable weather conditions have prevailed within the last 26 hours. The storm center has shifted from north to south.
“For a few hours Sunday morning Springfield was the coldest city in the United States. This phenomenon was due to the southbound movement of the cold wave.”
The newspaper reported that on Feb. 13, 1899, the temperature in New Orleans was 6 degrees while it was 20 degrees warmer in Miles City, Montana.
Long-time residents of Springfield could not recall a colder day, according to the newspaper.
The minus-29 reading was taken from the “government thermometer,” the story stated. Private thermometers in exposed positions showed temperatures as low as minus-34.
Plumbers in high demand
The story also stated:
- Several hundred people suffered frostbite.
- Livestock were killed by the cold.
- Plumbers across town were busy. “The water pipe that has not been frozen is an exception.”
- Most of the area peach and pear trees were killed.
Those with the least suffered the most, according to the news story.
“There is intense suffering among the poor. Fuel, food and clothing are demanded as life savers. Many destitute families are scarcely able to keep alive.”
People stayed inside as much as possible.
‘Motorman Jones' compelled to go home to thaw out
“Street car men have suffered almost beyond endurance. Motorman Jones of the Boonville street line stood at his post Saturday afternoon until he was badly frozen.
“He was compelled to go to his home to thaw himself,” the story stated.
The temperature on Feb. 12, 1899, dropped to minus-47 in Camp Clarke, Nebraska, which remains the coldest recorded temperature in Nebraska history.
That must mean Springfield fell to minus-29 at a time of day before the temperature in Camp Clarke plummeted.
You might wonder what the coldest recorded temperature is for Missouri.
That would be minus-40, recorded Feb. 13, 1905, in Warsaw.
The story in the Springfield Leader and Press concluded with this: “February 1899, will go down into history as the coldest period ever known in Springfield.”
It still holds that place in Springfield history today.
This is Answer Man Column No. 35.
