Grand Forks, ND today (2/21) had a high of -10F which is a record min max for the date. And not your typical record breaking min max, but in moderate snow most of the day. Also- I-Falls is on pace to have a top 5 coldest ever (recorded) Jan/Feb. That's impressive - but missing is 1936 which was epic. Currently - tied with 2014 (the chart only shows through the 20th- i have calculated through the 21st) and 1897 has a "M" FEB - so throw that out. These are some serious winters in the ICE BOX and to be around the heavy hitters this late in the game is impressive. With NWS forecast of a mean of around -8F to -10F for the reminder of FEB, I-Falls should easily move into the TOP 5.
There appears to be a warmup for early March- than a drop to much below normal temps for the Northland. Sure it can be said this or that-- but without a warm DEC, the Northland would be experiencing one of the worst winters ever recorded. Hibbing is having coldest Jan/Feb on record- but since it's period of record is rather thin ( I believe back to early 1960's) I though i would post I-Falls and the heavy hitters involved.
Late ice out is becoming more and more likely.