Cold Is The Word

This past weekend everybody hunkered down in their homes, trying to stay warm with their favorite beverages, blankets, movies and books. After a record-breaking month of December due to warm temperatures, Mother Nature decided to swing conditions the other way for January.

On Jan. 13, the National Weather Service in Glasgow reported Glasgow set a record low on Jan. 13 with a low of -35, breaking the previous record of -33 in 1916. This is the first time since Jan. 6, 1982, that Glasgow has had a record low in January.

Also on Jan. 13, the high only reached -21, which is the coldest high temperature since Feb. 1, 2011, when the high was also -21. The last time the high was colder was on Feb. 2, 1996, when the high was -22.

On Jan. 12, cancellations and postponements notices were already getting out to the public including Cape Air cancelling all flights for the weekend, Hi-Line Skating Learn to Skate canceled Friday and Saturday lessons, as well as the Fort Peck Lake Association meeting being rescheduled for a later date.

High School basketball games were also postponed including the match of Scobey at Nashua, Nashua at Hinsdale, Nashua at North country and North Country at Lustre.

The cold weather also wreaked havoc on modern conveniences including shopping, electricity and gas pumps. At around midnight Saturday morning, power outages were reported throughout Glasgow, Nashua and St. Marie. Thankfully most places were only without power for approximately two hours, as the linemen and women braved the elements to get electricity back on.

Local stores, such as Shippwrecked, Dairy Queen and All Seasons closed Saturday to allow employees and customers to stay warm, while Albertsons closed an hour early Friday, Saturday and Sunday to allow the safety of their employees in heading home. The Gateway in Fort Peck opened later than normal on Saturday to allow their building to warm up and for employees to safely get there.

Conditions are expected to get warmer as the week continues with highs expected to be in the positive single digits and then by the weekend it will feel like a heat wave with temperatures expected to be near 30.