Wisconsin winters are known for being a little frosty, but one recent winter was one for the record books. The winter of 2013-14 was one that a lot of state residents would just a soon forget – it was the coldest Wisconsin winter in recent history, with weeks and weeks with temperatures below zero. Here’s why this was a winter that many have tried to forget.

The winter of 2013-14 packed a huge punch. It was a winter when even the youngest state residents understood the term “polar vortex.”
Weather.gov
As the kids will tell you, a polar vortex is a system of freezing polar air. A high-pressure system in the Pacific caused the northern polar vortex to slip southward, right over Wisconsin. It brought cold, snow, ice, and misery to the Dairy State.
Wisconsin State Climatology Office
Madison had 10 nights below zero and 22 inches of snow in December alone. But that stretch of weather was a warm spell compared to January, when a series of days had temperatures as cold as 18 degrees below zero.
Weather.gov

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Airplanes were delayed, kids threw hot water into the air to make snow, and communities fixed scores of buried underground mains.
City of Madison
Northern Wisconsin always gets a lot of cold weather in the winter, but it was especially bitter this year. The frozen tundra of Green Bay had 54 days below zero - places like Rhinelander had even more negative days.
Weather.gov
The vortex caused the Great Lakes to become like a huge skating rink. Over 93 percent of Lake Michigan was covered by ice, a record. The ice on Lake Superior was as thick as sea ice. Back on land, things were not much better.
Weather.gov

Shiver!

If you live in Wisconsin, you just have to embrace the seasons. Here are a dozen awesome winter day trips.

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