Mount Washington is famous for its extreme weather conditions, but the latest Arctic outbreak has crushed a long-standing record for the coldest wind chill ever recorded in the United States. Meanwhile, Boston broke two record lows in one night amid the cold blast.
The extreme nature of the Arctic blast was unparalleled in New Hampshire at the summit of Mount Washington, the tallest mountain in the northeastern United States at 6,288 feet.
The AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperature plummeted to 114 degrees below zero at 4 a.m. Saturday as winds gusted close to 100 mph. The actual temperature at the time of 47 degrees below zero tied with a 1934 record for the lowest temperature ever recorded at the station.
The wind speeds -- while intense -- were a far cry from the all-time wind record set on the mountain on April 10, 1934. On that date, a 231-mph wind gust was clocked, the highest wind speed ever observed by an anemometer, an instrument designed to measure wind speeds. So far the highest wind gust reported with this event at Mount Washington was 127 mph.
Blowing snow cut visibility at the peak to less than 100 yards, bringing darkness to the mountain in the middle of the afternoon Friday.
Meanwhile, Boston dipped to 10 degrees below zero on Saturday morning with an AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperature of 45 degrees below zero. The city recorded two record lows during Friday night, one for Feb. 3 and another for Feb. 4. Prior to midnight the mercury dipped to 8 degrees below zero, smashing the prior record for Feb. 3 of 5 degrees below zero from 1881. During the early morning hours of Feb. 4, as the temperature dipped further to 10 degrees below zero, it broke that date's record low of 2 degrees below zero from 1886.
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