The December 1989 United States cold wave was a series of

cold wave A cold wave (known in some regions as a cold snap, cold spell or Arctic Snap) is a weather phenomenon that is distinguished by a cooling of the air. Specifically, as used by the U.S. National Weather Service, a cold wave is a rapid fall in tem ...

s into the central and eastern United States from mid-December 1989 through

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

. On December 21-23, a massive high pressure area pushed many areas into record lows. On the morning of the 22nd,

Scottsbluff, Nebraska Scottsbluff is a city in Scotts Bluff County, in the western part of the state of Nebraska, in the Great Plains region of the United States. The population was 14,436 at the 2020 census. Scottsbluff is the largest city in the Nebraska Panhand ...

, experienced . The next morning, the front pushed temperatures in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

down into the single digits. On the 24th and 25th,

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

experienced freezing temperatures and Key West tied its December low of . The wave extended all the way into Mexico's

Lower Rio Grande Valley The Lower Rio Grande Valley ( es, Valle del Río Grande), commonly known as the Rio Grande Valley or locally as the Valley or RGV, is a region spanning the border of Texas and Mexico located in a floodplain of the Rio Grande near its mouth. The ...

, resulting in tens of millions of dollars in damage to the agricultural sector. The December cold wave was actually the second of the year, after a February cold wave had extended into Texas. An area of low pressure moving northeast from Florida interacted with the cold front to create the Christmas Coastal Snowstorm on December 22-24, the largest snowstorm ever in the southeast United States. All-time snow records were broken in

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is t ...

(15.3 inches),

Cape Hatteras Cape Hatteras is a cape located at a pronounced bend in Hatteras Island, one of the barrier islands of North Carolina. Long stretches of beach, sand dunes, marshes, and maritime forests create a unique environment where wind and waves shap ...

(13.3 inches), Charleston, South Carolina (8 inches), and

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...

(3.6 inches). Snow was measured in

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

and

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...

, and snow flurries fell as far south as Tampa and

Sarasota Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sou ...

Description

Many locations experienced monthly or all-time record lows, and freezing temperatures destroyed much of the citrus crop in south

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Texas

December 1989 set monthly record lows for

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Ga ...

, and College Station. Brownsville, Texas fell to 16 °F and temperatures on the upper coast fell into the single digits.

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

- Forth Worth had 295 consecutive hours of freezing temperatures ending on December 30th, with a record low average monthly temperature of 34.8 °F and a low of 5 °F on December 22. Broken water pipes in Dallas resulted in $25 million in damage and large disruptions to the local manufacturing industry.

Houston Intercontinental Airport George Bush Intercontinental Airport is an international airport in Houston, Texas, United States, serving the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Located about north of Downtown Houston between Interstate 45 and Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 59 ...

set a record low of 7 °F on December 22, as well as experiencing 1.7 inches of snow. An estimated six million fish died in Texan bays from the freeze. The toll would have been higher if 11.3 million fish had not already died in the February cold wave earlier in the year.

Florida

Florida suffered rolling power outages, ruptured water pipes, and treacherous roads. At least 26 people died in the state. Governor

Bob Martinez Robert Martinez (born December 25, 1934) is an American retired politician who served as the 40th governor of Florida from 1987 to 1991. A member of the Republican Party, Martinez was the first person of Spanish descent to be elected governor o ...

declared a disaster area in all 67 counties. A record low was set at High Springs of 8.0 °F. The Florida Highway Patrol closed parts of I-10 after at least three vehicle pileups on icy bridges. The electronic flushing system of Orlando International Airport failed. Workers at Gator Bowl Stadium flushed 503 toilets continuously in the hopes of avoiding water pipe problems for the January 1st Gator Bowl but the stadium still suffered $5000 in damages. Jacksonville International Airport closed and Tallahassee Regional Airport had cancellations. About 30% of the $1.4b citrus crop industry was damaged. Other agricultural industries that suffered significant damage were sugarcane, strawberries, other berries, vegetables, ornamental plants, and fish. This was the fourth freeze in a decade after the 1981, 1983, and the

1985 North American cold wave The 1985 North America cold wave was a meteorological event which occurred in January, 1985, as a result of the shifting of the polar vortex farther south than is normally seen. Blocked from its normal movement, polar air from the north pushed ...

and many growers were unable to recover, resulting in many family farms going out of business. The citrus industry in Florida migrated farther south in the state, where it remains. Most of the 117,000 acres of citrus groves in

Lake County, Florida Lake County is a county in the central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 383,956. Its county seat is Tavares, and its largest city is Clermont. Lake County is included in the Orlando-Kissimmee-San ...

, then the second-largest citrus producer in the state, froze. The freeze marked the end of the local citrus industry. A citrus agent noted, "If you were still in the business, '89 pretty well sent you packing. It was a huge change to this county." Citrus farms began selling land to developers to cover their losses, resulting in the sprawl of urban

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

. Only 10,000 acres of citrus groves in Lake County remained in 2014.

References

{{United States winter storms United States cold wave United States cold wave United States cold wave 1989 12 1989 natural disasters in the United States