Revisiting Grand Rapids’ Coldest Day, 127 Years Later

The first month of 2026 has been full of surprises. On January 9th, the high in Grand Rapids was sixty degrees, and now, a mere 13 days later, the city is flirting with its coldest day on record.

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In a tumultuous week that has seen 9 inches of snowfall and counting, weather so bad the National Weather Service warned people not to travel, and a storm that caused a 100-car pileup, it may end with record-setting chills, with temps predicted to be -25°F. With this frigid day on the horizon, we're looking back at the last time it was this cold, according to Michigan records, a shocking 127 years ago, back in 1899.

Grand Rapids' Subzero Weather Prediction, 2026

Before we get to our throwback, let's quickly look at the forecast for this weekend. The National Weather Service has issued an extreme cold watch, with highs for Friday and Saturday in the single digits. WOODTV reports that lows will be very low; the following lows are forecast for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday: -4°, -10°, and -2°, respectively.

The "feels-like" temperatures will be -24° to -25° on Friday and Saturday. This is where the record could be made. But in 1899, the weather was even more frightening.

1899: Grand Rapids' Coldest Day On Record

The day was February 13, 1899. The year Aspirin was patented, the Philippine-American War began, and William McKinley was the President of the United States.

READ MORE: Grand Rapids Winters Ranked From Snowiest to Mildest

Grand Rapids was in the middle of one of the coldest months on record. 11 of the first 14 days of February had lows below zero, with the 9th and 10th's highs and lows both below 0. 

But the coldest of these days was the 13th, when the high was 2°, and the low was 24°, a 26-degree difference. NWS records show there was very little snow accumulation throughout the month, so they dealt with just very cold weather. 

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The northern parts of Michigan saw temperatures of -49 in Baldwin and -41 in Lake City. The rest of the country was dealing with freezing temperatures, too, with Jacksonville, FL, experiencing -2°F.

We'll see soon enough if the record gets broken in the next few days. In the meantime, if you're in need of a place to stay warm during these freezing couple of days, you can view free heating centers here.