July Chill Brought Record Cold Temperatures

Temperature records set way back in the 1880s were broken as unusually cool air blanketed a large part of the country in the heart of summer. It felt more like fall from the Upper Midwest into the South this past week. 

An unusually strong cold front for July began its southward plunge on Monday, July 14. The result was below-average temperatures for much of the central and eastern U.S.

(MORE: Coldest July Days Ever Recorded in America)

All-Time Record Low July Temperatures

Many all-time record low temperature records for the month of July were broken. On Wednesday morning Joplin, Missouri tied its all-time July record low of 50 degrees.

The state of Oklahoma recorded its coolest July day on Thursday with an average temperature of 63.6 degrees. The previous record was 66.3 degrees set on July 12, 1953. The average temperature is found by adding up all the high and low temperatures across the state, then dividing the total by two and then dividing by the number of reporting stations.

On Friday, all-time record coolest high temperatures for the month of July were set across much of the South. A few of the cities that set records are Memphis, Tennessee; Greenwood, Mississippi; and Longview, Texas.

New all-time July coolest high temperature records set on July 18, 2014.

Early Week Chill

The chilly conditions began to be felt on Monday and record cool highs were set in parts of the Upper Midwest and northern Plains. Minneapolis set a record cool high of 65 degrees, breaking the record set back in 1884.

Over 20 record lows were broken on Tuesday morning. Temperatures dropped into the mid 40s in Rapid City, South Dakota and North Platte, Nebraska, setting new records for the date.

Record cool highs were also quite numerous on Tuesday afternoon, as temperatures did not warm much. Highs only climbed into the 60s for many in the Midwest and Plains.

It really felt like fall in Marquette, Michigan, where they set a record cool high on Tuesday of 53 degrees. This broke the previous record by 11 degrees! In fact, 53 degrees is the average high for October 15.

St. Louis also set a record cool high on Tuesday, as temperatures only reached 76 degrees, breaking the previous record of 77 degrees set back in 1891. Average high temperatures for mid-July should be in the upper 80s.

Actual low temperatures on Wednesday morning, July 16, 2014.

The record-breaking trend continued on Wednesday morning when record lows were broken from Minnesota to Mississippi to West Virginia. Temperatures even dipped into the mid 30s in parts of northern Minnesota.

High temperatures were only in the 60s and 70s from the Plains to the interior Northeast on Wednesday afternoon. Goodland, Kansas only saw a high of 62 degrees, which broke their previous record by 10 degrees.

Late Week Record Cool 

The core of the cool temperatures stayed in the southern Plains and South through the end of the week.

Record low temperatures were broken on Thursday morning when Mobile, Alabama dropped to 64 degrees breaking their record low of 65 set back in 1886! Record lows also fell in Atlanta, Georgia, Pensacola, Florida and Fort Wayne, Indiana. 

Low temperature and cool high temperature records were also set across the southern Plains on Thursday. Many locations broke their record cool highs by more than 10 degrees, including Oklahoma City which only saw a high of 68 degrees.

Record lows on the morning of July 17, 2014.

On Friday record low temperatures were set from Baltimore, Maryland (low of 57 degrees) to Dallas, Texas (low of 65 degrees). Much of the South also saw record cool high temperatures for the day as clouds and rain helped to keep the temperatures in the 60s and 70s.

Tuscaloosa, Alabama shattered its previous record on Friday by more than 10 degrees with a high of only 75 degrees. Dallas, Texas also set a record as temperatures did not reach 80 degrees (a high of 77 degrees was reported) and New Orleans, Louisiana tied their record cool high of 82 degrees.

Record Lows Continue into Weekend

Record lows were tied or broken again Saturday morning when Springfield, Missouri and Wichita, Kansas both dropped to 57 degrees and Oklahoma City tied its record low of 63 degrees set back in 1898.

A slew of coolest high temperature records fell Saturday. Vicksburg, Mississippi, only reached a high of 78, well below the previous record-cool high of 85 set in 1992.

Numerous record-cool highs occurred in the Ark-La-Tex region Saturday, including 73 at Shreveport and 76 at Monroe, Louisiana; 75 at Texarkana and 74 at El Dorado, Arkansas; and 75 in Tyler and 73 in Longview, Texas. The readings were anywhere from 3 to 7 degrees below the previous coolest highs on record for June 19.

The cool weather extended east to the western Carolinas, where Asheville, North Carolina only hit 66 degrees, well below its previous coolest July 19 high of 71 in 1910. Greenville, South Carolina tied its record-chilly high of 69.

Saturday night and Sunday morning brought a pair of record lows to Dallas-Fort Worth, with the July 19 record low of 68 being tied shortly before midnight, and the July 20 record low of 65 being tied shortly before sunrise.

Kansas City also tied a record low Sunday morning, reaching 60 degrees.

Not far to the west, however, the pattern was reversing; in Goodland, Kansas, where July 15-17 brought three consecutive record-cool highs in the 60s, the temperature at 4 p.m. Sunday was a toasty 101 degrees.

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