If you’ve lived through a Buckeye winter, you know the drill. You scrap the ice off the windshield, complain about the gray sky, and eventually, the wind hits you so hard it feels like your face is being sanded down. But honestly, most of our modern "Arctic blasts" are child’s play compared to what happened in a tiny, now-vanished hamlet called Milligan.
On February 10, 1899, Ohio didn't just get cold. It became a frozen wasteland.
The thermometer at a U.S. Weather Bureau station in Milligan bottomed out at -39°F. That stands as the lowest temp in ohio ever recorded. To put that in perspective, that’s just one degree away from the point where Fahrenheit and Celsius meet. It’s the kind of cold that turns boiling water into snow the second it hits the air and makes trees literally explode as their sap freezes and expands.
The Ghost of Milligan and the Great Blizzard of 1899
You won't find Milligan on a modern GPS. It was a small community in Perry County, basically tucked away in the Moxahala Creek valley near what is now McLuney. The geography there is a perfect trap for cold air. Because it’s a flat valley surrounded by higher elevations, the heavy, frigid air drains down into the basin and just sits there.
Meteorologists call this "cold air drainage." Most locals back then probably just called it "misery."
This record wasn't some fluke 10-minute dip. It was the peak of the Great Blizzard of 1899, a massive weather event that paralyzed the entire United States. From February 8 to February 15, the state was locked in a deep freeze. Steve Eveland, the guy running the weather station, had to document temperatures that most people today can't even fathom. Imagine trying to keep a wood-burning stove going when it's -39 outside. You’re not just cold; you’re in a fight for survival.
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Why 1994 Was Actually Worse for Most People
Records are funny. While -39°F is the official gold medal for the lowest temp in ohio, many people who are alive today remember January 19, 1994, as the true benchmark for pain.
That was the year of the great "Arctic Outbreak." While Milligan hit -39 in the 1800s, the 1994 event saw modern cities hit staggering lows:
- Akron plunged to -25°F.
- Columbus shattered its own records at -22°F.
- Cincinnati nearly broke its all-time low, reaching -24°F.
The 1994 freeze was different because of the wind. With gusts whipping across the flat plains of Northwest Ohio, the wind chills were reportedly hitting -60°F in some areas. Schools didn't just close for a day; the entire infrastructure of the state basically tapped out. Power lines snapped like twigs. Water mains burst under the streets of Cleveland and Dayton, flooding roads with water that turned to ice instantly.
The Science of the "Ohio Icebox"
You might wonder why a state that gets humid, 100-degree summers can also turn into Antarctica. It's because Ohio is a topographical sitting duck.
We don't have mountains to the north to block the air coming off the Canadian tundra. When the jet stream dips—what we now call the "Polar Vortex"—it creates a highway for Arctic air to slide right down into the Ohio River Valley.
Lake Erie usually acts as a space heater early in the winter. Water holds heat longer than land, so it keeps Cleveland a bit warmer in December. But once that lake freezes over? The heater is off. The ice eliminates the lake's moderating effect, allowing the wind to howl across the frozen surface without losing a single degree of its bite.
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Surviving the Next Big Freeze
We haven't seen -39 in over a century, but the 2014 and 2015 "Polar Vortex" years proved that double-digit negatives are still very much on the table. If you want to make sure your house doesn't become the next Milligan, there are real steps you need to take before the next record-breaker hits.
First, check your pipes. This is where most people get burned. In -20 degree weather, an uninsulated pipe in a crawlspace will burst in hours. Use foam sleeves or heat tape.
Second, rethink your "emergency kit." Most people have a flashlight. Great. Do you have a way to stay warm if the power goes out and your furnace quits? Kerosene heaters (used safely) or even just a stockpile of heavy wool blankets can be the difference between a bad night and a life-threatening emergency.
Lastly, keep an eye on your vehicle's battery. Lead-acid batteries lose about 60% of their strength at 0°F. If we ever approach the lowest temp in ohio again, your car is essentially a 4,000-pound paperweight unless it's plugged into a block heater.
The record in Milligan has stood since 1899. Climate data shows our average winters are getting slightly warmer, but weather is chaotic. The "Icebox" is still there, just waiting for the right dip in the jet stream to remind us who is really in charge.
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Next Steps for Cold Weather Prep:
- Audit your insulation: Check for drafts around windows and doors where heat escapes.
- Service your furnace: Do it in October, not when the temp hits single digits.
- Stock a car kit: Include a Mylar "space blanket," jumper cables, and a bag of sand for traction.