Subzero? Yes. Records? Not even close.

Minnesota’s current subzero stream is impressive, but nowhere near a record.

The Twin Cities spent about 49 straight hours at or below zero over the weekend. That pales by comparison to the top 10 longest streaks of subzero temperatures in the Twin Cities historically.

• The record was 186 hours back in 1911-12.

• It takes 130 straight subzero hours to land in the top 10.

• That hasn’t happened in 17 years since the Twin Cities logged 142 straight hours below zero in January 1994.

Here’s more fun with negative numbers from the Minnesota DNR Climate Working Group.

Since 1873, the temperature in the Twin Cities has remained at or below zero for at least four consecutive days a total of 27 times, with the most recent occurrence being a five-day stretch ending January 18th, 1994. The longest such streak on record was seven days, from January 1-7, 1912.

The same stretch in 1912 clocked in at 186 consecutive hourly observations with temperatures at or below zero. The stretch in 1994 lasted 142 hours. More recent zero-or-colder stretches include 86 hours from 11pm January 12 to 1pm January 16, 2009 and 93 hours from 5pm January 31, 1996 to 1pm February 4, 1996.

How long would a stretch of zero or below weather be to make the top ten list? The mercury would have to stay at or below zero for at least FOUR full calendar days to have a chance of making the list.

The last time there was a faily long stretch at or below zero was from midnight, January 29, 2019 to 5 am on February 1, 2019 for a total of 78 hours.

Six and counting

Our current streak of subzero mornings in the Twin Cities hits 6 Wednesday morning. We’re likely to see subzero starts through next Tuesday. That would make our current string 11 days of subzero lows. Again, that’s not even in sniffing distance of a record.

The coldest temperature in this subzero streak so far in the Twin Cities is negative 16 recorded on Sunday morning. Low temperatures records for this week are in the minus 20s and minus 30s. So we haven’t even come close to setting any daily minimum records yet.

‘Mild winter’ so far

The Twin Cities Snow and Cold index stands at 49 points as of Feb. 9. That’s still in the mild category, but just 6 points shy of the low end of the moderate winter category.

Even after this cold snap, we’re likely to be in the low end of the moderate winter category.