The 1912 United States cold wave (also called 1912 cold air outbreak) remains one of the coldest winters yet to occur over the northern United States. It started in December 1911 and continued into late February 1912.
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The freeze started around Christmas time in 1911 and continued through 1912. The cold air moving south from the Arctic caused many places in the northern United States to be severely cold, with extreme wind chills. In early January cold air kept moving south from an Arctic pressure system, bringing some of the coldest air seen in the United States since around 1886. In January 1912, Sioux Falls saw a record low temperature for the 20th century of −38 °F (−39 °C). That area also saw the longest stretch of below-zero weather for a single winter. Niagara Falls froze over so hard that some people were able to safely cross on ice bridges. Some states, such as Minnesota, saw their all-time coldest month, averaging below zero.
February and March continued the unrelenting freeze. Both months were unusually cold, and March was the coldest on record for many states in the Midwest and Northeast. Parts of North Dakota saw their coldest March readings to date. Some cities saw their coldest weather that winter since the Little ice age. 1912 itself was a very cold year.
The United States saw its second coldest year on record, just behind 1917, when around 15 states or more saw their coldest year on record in 1917. The 1910s and 1920s were known for cold weather in almost all its seasons.