...1786... The temperature at Hartford, Connecticut fell to 24 degrees below zero. Up to this time, it was the coldest ever known on a thermometer.
...1810... The famous "cold day" in New England. Gale force winds wrecked homes, and accompanied a sudden overnight drop in temperature of 50 degrees. Tragedy struck Sanbornton NH where three children froze to death.
...1892... The temperature rose 43 degrees in 15 minutes at Fort Assiniboine near Havre, Montana
...1904... The low temperature plunged to 4 degrees below zero at Newport, Rhode Island, breaking the record of 1 degree set in 1901 and the high barometric pressure record was set when the barometric pressure rose to 30.81 inches.
...1925... The temperature at Van Buren, Maine fell to 48 degrees below zero -- the state's coldest temperature on record. This record was broken in January 2009.
...1933... Giant Forest CA received 60 inches of snow in just 24 hours, a state record, and the second highest 24 hour total of record for the U.S.
...1936... 6.3 inches of snow fell at Newport, Rhode Island, breaking the record of 2.5 inches set back in 1895.
...1977... Snowflakes were observed at Homestead and Miami Beach in extreme southern Florida.
...1983... The wind-chill at Newport, Rhode Island plummeted to 25 degrees below zero, breaking the record of 22 degrees below zero that was set in 1971.
...1987... A storm tracking toward the northeastern U.S. produced up to 14 inches of snow in northern Indiana. Peru IN reported a foot of snow. Six cities in Florida reported new record high temperatures for the date. The afternoon high of 88 degrees at Miami equaled their record high for the month of January.
...1988... A powerful storm hit the central U.S. producing blizzard conditions in the Central High Plains, and severe thunderstorms in the Lower Mississippi Valley. Snowfall totals ranged up to 36 inches at Wolf Creek Pass CO, with 31 inches at Elsmere NE. Tornadoes claimed five lives in Tennessee, and a tornado at Cullman AL injured 35 persons.
...1989... The high temperature for the day at Fairbanks AK was a frigid 41 degrees below zero, and the morning low of 24 degrees below zero at Anchorage AK was their coldest reading in fourteen years.
...1990... Thunderstorms produced large hail and damaging winds in eastern Texas and Louisiana. Tornadoes at Garland TX and Apple Springs TX each injured one person. Heavy snow spread from the Southern and Central Rockies into the Great Plains. Storm totals in New Mexico reached 36 inches at Gascon. Totals in the Central Plains ranged up to 15 inches near McCook NE and Garden City KS.
...1994... An extremely cold arctic air mass set 67 new record temperature lows from Minnesota to Virginia, including 10 cities that recorded their lowest temperatures ever. The following cities set all-time record lows: Indianapolis, Indiana (27 below), Akron, Ohio, Clarksburg, West Virginia, and Zanesville, Ohio (25 below), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Louisville, Kentucky, Columbus, Ohio, and Youngstown, Ohio (22 below), Cleveland, Ohio (20 below), and Erie, Pennsylvania (18 below). The mercury plunged to 36 below zero at New Whiteland, Indiana to set a new record low temperature for the state. A low of 52 degrees below zero was reported at Amasa, Michigan -- the state's coldest temperature on record. Intense lake effect snow squalls continued in the lee of Lake Ontario. Parish, New York reported 42 inches of new snow accompanied by several hours of lightning and thunder.
...1995... Columbia, Missouri was buried under 19.7 inches of snow in 24 hours for its greatest 24 hour snowfall and snowstorm ever. Wind gusts up to 45 mph produced blizzard conditions and thunderstorms occurred several times during the heavy snow. Interstates 70, US 63 , and US 54 were closed down. The same storm produced 15 inches of snow at Moline, Illinois and 14 inches at Blue Jacket, Oklahoma.