Cold/Wind Chill — Vanderburgh, Indiana

2015-02-19 · Vanderburgh, Indiana

Wider weather episode

Record-breaking cold and brisk winds combined to produce dangerously low wind chills. Bitterly cold wind chills around 15 below zero were observed across southwest Indiana. Southwest Indiana had not seen a cold stretch of this magnitude this late in the season since 1960. The actual low temperature was 6 below zero at Evansville. The lowest wind chill was 15 below at Evansville. One fatality was blamed on the cold weather. An 82-year-old Evansville woman was found outside her home without a coat. She suffered from dementia. The woman was transported to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead from hypothermia. The coroner's office estimated her exposure to the cold air was about 15 minutes. Her age made her more susceptible to hypothermia. This arctic air was delivered by arctic high pressure that settled southward across Missouri and Arkansas. Temperatures did not modify much due to extensive deep snowcover as far south as Kentucky and Missouri.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 559016. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.