As is common in winter, we’ve waffled between very cold and very mild temperatures this December. December 1989 was on the very cold side of the scale. Dec 22, marked the start of a very severe cold blasted into Kansas. All time record low temperatures were recorded across the state. Temperatures of between minus 20 and minus 30 degrees were reported at over 20 cities across the state. Wind chill readings dipped to between minus 50 and minus 60 degrees, making this period truly one of the coldest periods ever in Kansas. The low of -21 degrees established the record low for the month of December at Dodge City. Manhattan also saw record cold for the date, with a low of -22 degrees. It wasn’t an all-time record low, however. That was a -35 degrees on February 12, 1899.
Mary Knapp, Weather Data Library
mknapp@ksu.edu