The 12 Coldest Days In Grand Rapids History

Michigan has been in an extended Arctic blast for most of the week, culminating in a forecast that calls for parts of Michigan, specifically Grand Rapids, to have the coldest day in nearly 127 years. With this cold day soon upon us, we're looking back at the 12 coldest days in Grand Rapids history. 

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Michigan is known for its cold, with parts of the state receiving over 200 inches of snowfall. But you don't necessarily need heavy snowfall to have cold temps, as we'll see soon. Without further ado, let's break down the 12 coldest days that Michiganders have ever dealt with.

Information is courtesy of the National Weather Service.

#12 - February 10th, 1912

The winter of 1912 featured multiple blizzards from November through January, but February was the month with the coldest day. Temperatures dropped to -16°F on February 10th before rebounding the next day to 16°F. There were 11 inches of snow on the ground at the time.

#11 - February 5th, 1895

The winter of 1895 saw two "catastrophic" snowstorms, one in December 1894 and the other in February 1895, which many Floridians refer to as The Great Freeze. It dropped temperatures to ~11°, which devastated many of the fruit harvests there.

Read More: Revisiting Michigan’s Snowstorms That Made History

But while the snow was notably absent from this storm, Michigan did have a frigid low of -16°F, with temperatures fluctuating between single digits and below 0 until the 9th.

#10 - February 3rd & 4th, 1996

Nearly 100 years later, Grand Rapids found itself in a similar situation when the end of January and start of February saw the city plunge well below zero, hitting lows of -17°F on the 3rd and 4th. The National Weather Service called this one of the coldest arctic outbreaks of the 20th century.

#9 - December 19th, 1983

The end of 1983 saw a cold snap, with temperatures dropping drastically; the 18th had a high of 17°F and a low of 2°F. Temperatures continued dropping overnight to -18°F before climbing back to 11°F during the day.

Cold temperatures persisted, leading to the coldest Christmas on record, with a low of -3°F on the 25th.

#8 - February 17th, 1973

Known as The Great St. Patrick's Day Blizzard, temperatures on February 17th, 1973, dropped to -19°F before rebounding to 19°F. Grand Rapids did not see the level of snowfall that other parts of the state, like Jackson, did, but it was plenty cold.

#7 - January 23rd & 24th, 1948

About this time, 78 years ago, Grand Rapids saw temperatures drop to -19°F for two days in a row, a cherry on top of 11 of 12 days with single-digit lows (two of those 11 were below zero).

#6 - January 10th, 1942

Surprisingly, this is one of the first record-cold days accompanied by heavy snowfall. On January 9th, 7.2 inches of snow fell, with the temperature dropping overnight to -19°F as snow continued to fall. On the 10th, there was 16 inches of snow on the ground.

There wasn't any snow on the 10th itself, but that low quickly heated back up to 24°F as the day went on.

#5 - January 4th, 1981

These final 5 dates mark the entry into the -20s. 1981 got off to a very cold start, as January fourth saw the low drop quickly to -20°F. The cold would yo-yo for the next few days from 20s to single digits to just under 0; the 4th was the coldest by far.

#4 - January 11th, 1979

Most Grand Rapidians think of the Blizzard of 1978, when the city received 16.1 inches of snow in a single day, on top of the 8 inches already on the ground.

But the following January in '79 was memorable too. This month had lows of -15°F on the 10th and -21°F on the 11th. Two days later, GR was dumped on with 10.5 inches of snow on the 13th. It doesn't have the same name recognition as the '78 blizzard, but '79 was crazy too.

#3 - January 19th, 1994

In January of 1994, there were 8 days with lows below zero, 4 of which were below -10. But the 19th was on a different level because it didn't get above 0 the entire day.

The high on the 19th was -2°F, and the low was -22°F. This may not be the coldest day numerically, but it could easily win the overall coldest day award, as it is the only one on this list to have a day like this.

#2 - January 30th, 1951

1951 was an interesting year that started with extreme cold and ended with nearly two feet of snow, with the 25th of December having 6.5 inches of snowfall.

But January holds the record for the second-coldest day ever in Grand Rapids, with a low of -22°F on the 30th, as part of a cold snap that carried into February.

#1 - February 13th & 14th, 1899

The coldest day in Grand Rapids' history occurred on February 13th and 14th, when temperatures dropped to -24°F. It was the culmination of a week straight of lows below 0°, with the 10th - 14th all with lows below -20°F. This was part of a nationwide freeze that saw Jacksonville, FL reach -2°F. It is a record that has stood for 127 years.

Whether we set a new record in 2026 is still up in the air, but if we do, we'll update this list shortly.