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Vermont extreme cold

Every recorded extreme cold record since 1996 · 14 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 648 extreme cold records in Vermont from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 24 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the January 8, 2021 cold/wind chill in Bennington County: 1 death. Vermont ranks 30th of 51 states and territories by count and 4th of 50 per square mile.

Extreme cold in Vermont, 1996 to 2026

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

  • recorded, no damage figure
  • under $1 million
  • $1 million or more
  • $10 million or more
  • $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
  • $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
  • a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
  • a year with a death
Records
6481996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
24average
Deaths
10 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$8.0Mas filed
Busiest year
202276 records

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

Are extreme cold records common in Vermont?

Vermont averages about 24 extreme cold records a year since 2000, 30th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2022 (76). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Vermont records 703 extreme cold records since 1996, 4th of 50 states and territories by that measure.

  1. 1. Maryland 1039
  2. 2. New Jersey 901
  3. 3. West Virginia 808
  4. 4. Vermont 703
  5. 5. New York 602
  6. 6. Kentucky 578
  7. 7. Delaware 565
  8. 8. Minnesota 532
  9. 9. Iowa 492
  10. 10. Illinois 483

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in Vermont have the most extreme cold records?

Per square mile, Bennington County leads Vermont: 71 days with a extreme cold record since 1996, 105.3 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Windham County has the most cold records (116 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

  1. Bennington County 105.3 (72)
  2. Windham County 90.3 (116)
  3. Lamoille County 62.9 (29)
  4. Chittenden County 59.6 (58)
  5. Franklin County 49.1 (55)
  6. Caledonia County 46.2 (30)
  7. Essex County 45.3 (30)
  8. Washington County 43.7 (30)
  9. Orleans County 41.8 (29)
  10. Orange County 40.8 (28)
  11. Addison County 40.5 (56)
  12. Rutland County 31.2 (53)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is the cold season in Vermont?

72% of its extreme cold records since 1996 fell in January and February. The busiest month is January (352 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 352 · Feb 116 · Mar 37 · Apr 17 · May 49 · Jun 3 · Jul 0 · Aug 0 · Sep 1 · Oct 29 · Nov 2 · Dec 42 (records).

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

What were the deadliest extreme cold records in Vermont?

Vermont: the storms with the most deaths since 1996
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2021-01-08 Cold/Wind ChillBennington County · forecast zone Bennington A 35-year old man died from hypothermia within minutes after crashing his truck on Route 279 in Bennington and fleeing into the woods at around 6:30 pm on January 8th, according to the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner. Temperatures were in the low 20s at the time of the accident, falling into the mid-teens overnight. 1 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.

The costliest extreme cold records in Vermont

Vermont: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2023-05-18 Frost/FreezeChittenden County · forecast zone Western Chittenden One storm episode: 6 records in 6 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $4.4M
2010-05-11 Frost/FreezeChittenden County · forecast zone Western Chittenden 0 0 $271K

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

Are extreme cold records becoming more frequent in Vermont?

Vermont's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Extreme cold: Vermont and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeVermontUnited StatesVermont's share
1996-99375,5390.7%
2000s26814,7921.8%
2010s14418,1620.8%
2020-2619915,3291.3%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent extreme cold records in Vermont

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2026-02-08 Cold/Wind ChillWindham County · forecast zone Western Windham 0 0 –
2026-02-08 Cold/Wind ChillBennington County · forecast zone Bennington 0 0 –
2026-02-07 Cold/Wind ChillWindham County · forecast zone Eastern Windham 0 0 –
2026-02-07 Extreme Cold/Wind ChillWindham County · forecast zone Western Windham 0 0 –
2026-02-07 Extreme Cold/Wind ChillBennington County · forecast zone Bennington 0 0 –
2026-02-07 Extreme Cold/Wind ChillWindsor County · forecast zone Eastern Windsor County 0 0 –
2026-02-07 Extreme Cold/Wind ChillWindsor County · forecast zone Western Windsor County 0 0 –
2026-02-07 Extreme Cold/Wind ChillOrange County · forecast zone Orange 0 0 –
2026-02-07 Extreme Cold/Wind ChillEssex County · forecast zone Essex 0 0 –
2026-02-07 Extreme Cold/Wind ChillCaledonia County · forecast zone Caledonia 0 0 –
2026-02-07 Extreme Cold/Wind ChillWashington County · forecast zone Washington 0 0 –
2026-02-07 Extreme Cold/Wind ChillOrleans County · forecast zone Orleans 0 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for extreme cold records in Vermont

FEMA has declared 1 disaster in Vermont for extreme cold, counting its incident type and declarations that name freez in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); one was a major disaster, the latest on November 27, 1963.

The 12 most recent
DeclaredNumberTitleAreas named
1963-11-27DR-160Drought & Impending Freeze1

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

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