Some dates are infamous for weather, and one of those is today, November 11th. 114 years ago, on this date in 1911, one of the strongest cold fronts ever recorded in our area swept through.
The cold front divided warm and humid air spreading north from arctic air driving south. Big temperature differences help to fuel powerful storms, and one was moving into the Great Lakes that day. Ahead of the cold front, temperatures climbed to 80° by 3 pm, a record high for the date. The front arrived at 3:45 pm, dropping temperatures to 40° by 4 pm.
Strong and damaging winds came with the sharp drop in temperatures. 74 mph winds were recorded for a full minute, damaging buildings and trees. Rain and thunder came with hail, and then was followed by sleet and snow as temperatures continued to drop to 21° by 7 pm. By midnight, the temperature had dropped to 13°, setting a new record low for the date. This is the only time a record low and high have been set in Springfield on the same day.
The arctic air mass swept through the entire region with some locations reporting temperature drops of 50° in one hour. The volatile mix of warmth and cold also generated severe weather and a tornado outbreak. Nine tornadoes were reported from Wisconsin to Michigan, one of which was an F-4 tornado that struck Janesville, WI.
The arctic air was a quick hitter; a high of 21° was reported the day after the cold front, and it was back up near 70° within a week. It was a remarkable period of weather that tested the limits of just how much the weather can change here in the Ozarks…