The 1985 Arctic outbreak[1] was a meteorological event, the result of the shifting of the polar vortex further south than is normally seen.[1] Blocked from its normal movement, polar air from the north pushed into nearly every section of the eastern half of the United States and Canada, shattering record lows in a number of areas.[1] Note the event was preceded by unusually warm weather in the eastern U.S. in December 1984, suggesting that there was a build-up of cold air that was suddenly released from the Arctic.
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From Sunday, January 20 to Tuesday, January 22, 1985, the polar vortex, coupled with a large ridge of high pressure, moved polar air into the United States as far south as Florida.[1] Unlike most cold air systems, a pattern of self-modification did not immediately occur, meaning seasonable temperatures were absent for a number of days, a rarity in forecasting.[1]
The Arctic air mass started moving into the United States on the evening of January 19 and the morning of January 20. An early victim of the air mass was the city of Chicago, Illinois, which recorded a record low of −27 °F (−33 °C), coupled with 25 miles per hour (11 m/s) winds to produce a wind chill of −77 °F (−61 °C), also never recorded before.[2] St. Louis saw a low of −18 °F (−28 °C). Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania woke up that morning to find a low of −18 °F (−28 °C), the coldest morning since 1899.[3] In Cincinnati, Ohio, the morning temperature of −21 °F (−29 °C) tied for the fourth-lowest minimum temperature in the city's history, only outdone by a cold mass the year before and a blizzard in 1977.[4] Cleveland, Ohio fell to −18 °F (−28 °C), which was at the time a record.[5]
The mass moved east and south during the day on January 20, resulting in frigid air for most of the Eastern Seaboard starting on the morning of January 21. New York City's Central Park recorded a low of −2 °F (−19 °C), breaking a record for that date.[6] Washington National Airport set a record of −4 °F (−20 °C) for the morning of January 21; it also set a record low for the date before (−2 °F (−19 °C)).[7] It was the Southern United States, however, that felt the biggest brunt of the system, as they usually are not accustomed to winter air the same way Northern states are. Roanoke, Virginia set a record low of −11 °F (−24 °C), with the campus of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville registering a low of −24 °F (−31 °C).[1] Tennessee's state capital, Nashville, dropped to −17 °F (−27 °C), while all-time records were set well into interior sections of the deep South, such as (−5 °F (−21 °C) in Charlotte, North Carolina,[1] −6 °F (−21 °C) in Macon, Georgia,[1] 7 °F (−14 °C) in Jacksonville, Florida,[1] and 10 °F (−12 °C) in Gainesville, Florida[8]). Atlanta, Georgia, saw a low of −8 °F (−22 °C), setting a record for the month of January.[9] Even Miami, Florida, whose average low in late January is 60 °F (16 °C), recorded a low of 34 °F (1 °C) on the 21st and 30 °F (−1 °C) on the 22nd, marking only the third time the city had seen sub-freezing temperatures.[10]
The record-breaking cold showed up again in February 1985, which saw two more state record lows in the Mountain West. Utah's −69 °F (−56 °C) was the second-coldest temperature ever recorded in the "lower 48" states, just above Montana's record of −70 °F (−57 °C) in 1954.
The effects of the outbreak were damaging. At least 126 deaths were blamed on the cold snap,[11] and 90 percent of the citrus crop in Florida was destroyed in what the state called the "Freeze of the Century."[12] Florida's citrus industry suffered $1.2 billion in losses ($2.3 billion in 2009 dollars) as a result of the inclement weather.[13] The public inauguration of President Ronald Reagan for his second term was held in the Capitol Rotunda instead of outside due to the cold weather, canceling the inaugural parade in the process. (Because Inauguration Day fell on a Sunday, Reagan took a private oath on January 20 and the semi-public oath on January 21.)[14]
Source: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0113527.html