In 1904, New Jersey Plunged Into An Arctic Freeze That Makes This Year's Winter Look Downright Mild

There are officially only two weeks left of winter and we couldn’t be more relieved; we’ve had some wild weather this season. A cold snap in January brought temperatures down to record setting levels in towns like Newark and Brunswick. New Year’s Eve was absolutely frigid and certain cities had icy streaks lasting over 10 days – for nearly two weeks, the mercury never rose above 32 degrees.

Flickr/George Pankewytch

Average high temperatures in the Garden State in the winter range from around 37-41 degrees - it shouldn't stay below freezing for so many days in a row. But this isn't New Jersey's longest cold snap...For Newark, that would be 16 straight days, from Jan. 19 through Feb. 3, 1961. Even with the cold, it hasn't been particularly snowy...until now. As of the end of January, most counties had under 2 feet of snow. Compare that to snow totals in 1995-1996, which went as high as 84.5 inches.

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Flickr/James Loesch

Yes, we've had some cold days, but nothing compares to the winter of 1904. On January 5th of that year, the mercury dropped below zero and kept going. The day's lowest low was recorded in River Vale, where the temperature plummeted to negative 34 degrees. NEGATIVE 34! And that's not factoring in the wind chill. For reference sake, the coldest temperature ever recorded in the United States was 80 below in Alaska in January of 1971. Of course, New Jersey isn't Alaska and temperatures that low are almost unheard of. More of New Jersey's coldest days include February 12, 1979, when Atlantic City temperatures were recorded at negative eleven degrees.

So, if you’re complaining about the current weather…remember, it has been worse. We’ve been through it! Many of us survived the winter of 1979 and many more made it through the snowy 1995-1996 season. So, get your snow blowers ready and relax…spring is almost here. And rejoice that we’re not living through the 2015 ice storm again. For more on that, click here.