Below zero for a long stretch

Air temps took the trip below zero at 1 AM on Thursday at Rochester International Airport. The forecast is calling for the the mercury to stay below that zero mark from now through Christmas morning. That would be a 4+ day stretch should it be achieved. Saturday afternoon is the one timeframe to watch that may break the streak. We’ll be seeing a high within striking distance of zero.

It’s not all too common to get a four day stretch below zero. The dataset runs back to 1886 for Rochester. In that timeframe we’ve only had a 4+ day stretch of sub-zero days happen 12 times in history. The longest was in January 1912 where 7 days below zero straight was achieved. The most recent time was only two winters ago… February 2021.