PlainHazard

Extreme cold in the United States, by state

The national record since 1996 · Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Cold/Wind Chill, Frost/Freeze

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 53,822 extreme cold records in the United States from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 1,759 a year since 2000. Minnesota records the most (4,238), Maryland the most per square mile. The deadliest storm in NOAA's record since 1996 is the February 12, 2021 cold/wind chill in Texas: 59 deaths and $65.2 million in damage in 2025 dollars.

Extreme cold, 1996 to 2026

Records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.

  • recorded, no damage figure
  • under $10 million
  • $10 million or more
  • $100 million or more
  • $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
  • $10 billion or more, or 1,000 deaths
  • a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
  • a year with a death
Records
53,8221996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
1,759average
Deaths
1,066recorded
Damage, 2025 dollars
$8.6BStorm Events, as filed

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.

Which states have the most extreme cold records?

By count Minnesota (4,238), New York (2,837), Iowa (2,748) lead. Per 10,000 square miles Maryland (1039), New Jersey (901), West Virginia (808) lead; large states collect more records by covering more ground.

By count since 1996

  1. Minnesota 4,238
  2. New York 2,837
  3. Iowa 2,748
  4. Illinois 2,679
  5. North Dakota 2,598
  6. Texas 2,340
  7. Kentucky 2,283
  8. Nebraska 2,212
  9. South Dakota 1,993
  10. West Virginia 1,943
  11. California 1,815
  12. Virginia 1,789
  13. Wisconsin 1,736
  14. Missouri 1,676
  15. Georgia 1,561

Per 10,000 square miles

  1. Maryland 1039
  2. New Jersey 901
  3. West Virginia 808
  4. Vermont 703
  5. New York 602
  6. Kentucky 578
  7. Delaware 565
  8. Minnesota 532
  9. Iowa 492
  10. Illinois 483
  11. Virginia 453
  12. North Dakota 377
  13. Wisconsin 320
  14. New Hampshire 318
  15. Maine 291

Source: Land area: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles are not ranked per square mile.

Alabama: 224 per 10,000 sq miAlaska: 7.0 per 10,000 sq miArizona: 9.7 per 10,000 sq miArkansas: 89 per 10,000 sq miCalifornia: 116 per 10,000 sq miColorado: 103 per 10,000 sq miConnecticut: 289 per 10,000 sq miDelaware: 565 per 10,000 sq miFlorida: 209 per 10,000 sq miGeorgia: 270 per 10,000 sq miIdaho: 23 per 10,000 sq miIllinois: 483 per 10,000 sq miIndiana: 258 per 10,000 sq miIowa: 492 per 10,000 sq miKansas: 85 per 10,000 sq miKentucky: 578 per 10,000 sq miLouisiana: 64 per 10,000 sq miMaine: 291 per 10,000 sq miMaryland: 1,039 per 10,000 sq miMassachusetts: 222 per 10,000 sq miMichigan: 190 per 10,000 sq miMinnesota: 532 per 10,000 sq miMississippi: 72 per 10,000 sq miMissouri: 244 per 10,000 sq miMontana: 76 per 10,000 sq miNebraska: 288 per 10,000 sq miNevada: 4.6 per 10,000 sq miNew Hampshire: 318 per 10,000 sq miNew Jersey: 901 per 10,000 sq miNew Mexico: 11 per 10,000 sq miNew York: 602 per 10,000 sq miNorth Carolina: 159 per 10,000 sq miNorth Dakota: 377 per 10,000 sq miOhio: 211 per 10,000 sq miOklahoma: 93 per 10,000 sq miOregon: 122 per 10,000 sq miPennsylvania: 244 per 10,000 sq miRhode Island: 106 per 10,000 sq miSouth Carolina: 74 per 10,000 sq miSouth Dakota: 263 per 10,000 sq miTennessee: 142 per 10,000 sq miTexas: 90 per 10,000 sq miUtah: 30 per 10,000 sq miVermont: 703 per 10,000 sq miVirginia: 453 per 10,000 sq miWashington: 23 per 10,000 sq miWest Virginia: 808 per 10,000 sq miWisconsin: 320 per 10,000 sq miWyoming: 61 per 10,000 sq mi
  • 4.6-72
  • 72-122
  • 122-258
  • 258-483
  • 483+
Extreme cold per 10,000 square miles by state since 1996. Each class holds about a fifth of the states; Alaska and Hawaii are drawn as insets, not to scale.

Every state

Extreme cold risk by state: FEMA's model

The record above counts what happened. FEMA's National Risk Index estimates what each state can expect to lose to extreme cold in an average year, from history, exposure and vulnerability: Illinois carries the largest expected annual loss ($1.4B), then Texas and Wisconsin.

  1. Illinois $1.4B
  2. Texas $1.1B
  3. Wisconsin $806M
  4. Minnesota $471M
  5. Michigan $448M
  6. Tennessee $355M
  7. Florida $336M
  8. Missouri $321M
  9. New York $310M
  10. Pennsylvania $256M
  11. Indiana $255M
  12. Montana $244M
  13. Ohio $226M
  14. Oklahoma $221M
  15. Georgia $213M

Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), county expected annual loss summed by state; a model, not a count. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

When is the cold season?

Nationally, 55% of its extreme cold records since 1996 fell in January and February. The busiest month is January.

The values, month by month

Jan 19,108 · Feb 10,284 · Mar 2,126 · Apr 5,853 · May 2,296 · Jun 688 · Jul 170 · Aug 121 · Sep 788 · Oct 3,919 · Nov 1,574 · Dec 6,895 (records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

The deadliest extreme cold records on record

The 10 storms with the most deaths since 1996, by state
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2021-02-12 Cold/Wind ChillHarris County, TX · forecast zone Inland Harris One storm episode: 14 records in 13 places, 2021-02-12 to 2021-02-15; the totals are the episode's. Record cold and windy conditions gripped Southeast Texas behind the passage of an Arctic front. The extreme cold and increased demand led to widespread power outages, loss of heat for many and led to the bursting of pipes with some losing water for many days. Numerous fatalities resulted both from hypothermia, carbon ... 59 0 $65M
2021-02-14 Extreme Cold/Wind ChillDallas County, TX · forecast zone Dallas One storm episode: 29 records in 29 places, 2021-02-14 to 2021-02-15; the totals are the episode's. A historic winter storm, that began on February 9th, 2021, continued to cripple the region through February 19th. One wave of winter precipitation moved across the region February 13-15th, with another round of snow and ice on February 16-17th. Snowfall totals for both rounds ranged from 1 inch to nearly 10 inches ... 28 0 $123M
2021-02-15 Extreme Cold/Wind ChillTravis County, TX · forecast zone Travis One storm episode: 9 records in 9 places; the totals are the episode's. A series of weather systems brought several rounds of winter weather to South Central Texas from February 11 through February 18. The second round came on the 13th and 14th with cold air still in place in the low levels, another upper level shortwave trough moved across Texas providing lift for precipitation. The ... 19 0 –
2007-02-01 Extreme Cold/Wind ChillCook County, IL · forecast zone Cook One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places, 2007-02-01 to 2007-02-03; the totals are the episode's. High temperatures were below freezing for the first 18 days of the month. February 4th and 5th were the coldest with high temperatures at Chicago Ohare Airport of only 2 above on the 4th and 5 above on the 5th. The coldest low temperature at Chicago Ohare Airport occurred on the morning of the 5th, 10 degrees below ... 12 0 –
2007-02-04 Extreme Cold/Wind ChillQueens County, NY · forecast zone Queens One storm episode: 4 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. An arctic air mass caused subfreezing temperatures across the local area for 5 consecutive days; from February 4th through February 8th. During this time, the daily mean temperature averaged nearly 15 degrees below normal. Based on a report by the NYC Medical Examiner's Office, hypothermia, was a direct cause of at ... 11 0 –
2026-01-27 Cold/Wind ChillHardin County, TN · forecast zone Hardin One storm episode: 68 records in 21 places; the totals are the episode's. While the wintry precipitation created the initial impacts, it was the multi-day period of subfreezing temperatures that prolonged and, in many cases, worsened those impacts. The lack of meaningful thawing effectively extended the storm’s footprint from a 2 – 3 day event into a nearly week-long hazard across West ... 8 0 –
2006-12-02 Extreme Cold/Wind ChillCook County, IL · forecast zone Cook After the winter storm brought several inches of snow to northern Illinois, cold temperatures settled across the area. Low temperatures on the morning of the 3rd, 4th and 5th were in the single digits. A brief warm-up on the 6th, with low temperatures again in the single digits on the 7th and 8th. Seven people died ... 7 5 –
2024-01-14 Extreme Cold/Wind ChillShelby County, TN · forecast zone Shelby One storm episode: 4 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. An arctic air mass brought very cold air temperatures and sub-zero wind chills across West Tennessee during the January 14-17, 2024 timeframe. As a surface high shifted directly over the Mid-South, clear skies, light winds, and snowpack left the region bitterly cold with well below zero temperatures across parts of ... 7 0 –
2021-02-01 Cold/Wind ChillCuyahoga County, OH · forecast zone Cuyahoga The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner Office determined that seven people in Cuyahoga County died from exposure during the first half of February due to the combination of cold weather and inadequate housing with proper heating. Temperatures during the first half of February were largely below freezing with many nights ... 7 0 –
2026-01-24 Cold/Wind ChillDe Soto Parish, LA · forecast zone De Soto One storm episode: 17 records in 17 places; the totals are the episode's. A strong surge of Arctic air invaded Northern Louisiana during late January with bitterly cold temperatures and light northerly winds. In wake of the this Arctic air arriving on the evening of January 24th, overnight low temperatures plummeted into the teens and lower 20s by the morning on January 26th and again on ... 7 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed, summed over each storm in each state (one episode, or a named storm filed by several offices); names from FEMA declaration titles.

The costliest extreme cold records since 1993

The 8 most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
1998-12-20 Cold/Wind ChillSouthern San Joaquin Valley, CA · forecast zone Southern San Joaquin Valley One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $1.1B
2007-01-11 Frost/FreezeKern County and Tulare County, CA · forecast zone Se S.J. Valley One storm episode: 4 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $1.0B
2010-01-09 Cold/Wind ChillMiami-Dade County, FL · forecast zone Metropolitan Miami-Dade One storm episode: 4 records in 2 places, 2010-01-09 to 2010-01-10; the totals are the episode's. 1 7 $793M
2021-02-14 Frost/FreezeBrooks County, TX · forecast zone Brooks One storm episode: 6 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. 1 0 $501M
1997-01-19 Cold/Wind ChillCollier County, FL · forecast zone Coastal Collier 0 0 $368M
2011-12-08 Frost/FreezeKern County and Tulare County, CA · forecast zone Se S.J. Valley One storm episode: 4 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $361M
2007-01-13 Frost/FreezeSan Diego County, CA · forecast zone San Diego County Valleys One storm episode: 8 records in 4 places, 2007-01-13 to 2007-01-14; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $307M
1999-04-10 Cold/Wind ChillCentral San Joaquin Valley, CA · forecast zone Central San Joaquin Valley One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $232M

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

What the record files under extreme cold

NOAA event types in this group
Event typeRecordsYearsKilledDamage
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill19,2892000-2026287$467M
Cold/Wind Chill19,1331996-2026773$2.3B
Frost/Freeze15,4001996-20266$5.8B

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, event types as defined in NWS Instruction 10-1605.

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