GREENSBORO, NC -- Wednesday, January 21st marks the 30th Anniversary of the coldest temperature ever recorded in Triad history. In fact, most places across North and South Carolina set all-time record low temperatures between January 20-22.
On the morning of January 21, 1985 temperatures dropped to -8°F at the Piedmont Triad International Airport, breaking the all-time record low for Greensboro. The push of Arctic Air began arriving the day before and dropped temperatures to -6° just before midnight, claiming the record low for January 20th.
This unprecedented Arctic outbreak claimed all-time record lows for most locations across the state, including Mount Mitchell. In fact, on January 21, 1985 Mount Mitchell dropped to -34°F breaking the all-time low record for the entire state of North Carolina.
Aside from the incredible danger/discomfort from the cold, local impacts from the record Arctic cold were record-high electricity usage which exceeded the previous record by 12 percent, burst water pipes and at least one fatality. Many schools also closed due to the dangerously cold temperatures.
Here is a list of other all-time record low temperatures achieved during this outbreak:
- Grandfather Mountain: -32°F
- Boone: -24°F
- Waynesville: -22°F
- Asheville: -17°F
- Raleigh: -9°F
- Asheboro: -8°F
- Charlotte: -5°
- Fayetteville: -1°
- Hatteras: 6°
For perspective, the last time the Triad has even seen temperatures below 0° was in 1994 when temperatures dropped to -1°F.
