The coldest week in Massachusetts, station by station
The week with the lowest normal low at each reference station, from NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals, beside the coldest night of the last 10 winters, the median first freeze and the record low.
The coldest week and the coldest nights at Massachusetts reference stations
Station
Coldest week
Normal low
Coldest night, last 10 winters
First freeze
Record low
BostonBoston Logan International Airport, USW00014739
Jan 21 to 27
22°F
−10°FFeb 4, 2023
Nov 14
−14°FFeb 15, 1943records since 1936
WorcesterWorcester Regional Airport, USW00094746
Jan 21 to 27
16°F
−13°FFeb 4, 2023
Nov 2
−19°FJan 15, 1957records since 1948
PittsfieldPittsfield Municipal Airport, USW00014763
Jan 23 to 29
13°F
−17°FFeb 4, 2023
Oct 13
−26°FTwice, last on Feb 16, 1943records since 1925
Normals from NOAA NCEI; nightly lows from GHCN-Daily, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026.
The panel at the top of this page sets the next 7 nights at Boston against the normal low for each date and adds the Climate Prediction Center outlook for the two weeks after. Enter a ZIP for your own town; it uses the nearest of the 3 Massachusetts reference stations.
At Boston it is usually Jan 21 to 27, with a normal low of 22°F. At the other reference stations: Worcester Jan 21 to 27 (16°F) and Pittsfield Jan 23 to 29 (13°F). These are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily normals.
The normal low at Boston reaches 32°F around Dec 6. The first actual freeze came around Nov 14 in the median of the last 10 winters, weeks ahead of the normal, because one clear calm night can run far below the average.
The coldest night of the last 10 winters at Boston was −10°F on Feb 4, 2023, and the coldest night of a typical winter there was 5°F. Elsewhere: Worcester −13°F on Feb 4, 2023 and Pittsfield −17°F on Feb 4, 2023. The record at the Boston station is −14°F, on Feb 15, 1943, in daily records since 1936.
At Boston a typical recent winter brings 87 nights at 32°F or colder and 26 at 20°F or colder, the median of the last 10 seasons.
Each night's forecast low is compared with the NOAA normal low for that date at the nearest reference station. A night 20 or more degrees below normal is an arctic blast, and so is a night below zero where the normal low is 10°F or warmer. A night 10 to 19 below is a cold snap. A night 5 or more below, or a week that runs 3 or more below on average, is colder than normal, and a week 5 or more above is mild.
The normal lows and coldest weeks are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily climate normals for Boston Logan International Airport (USW00014739), Worcester Regional Airport (USW00094746) and Pittsfield Municipal Airport (USW00014763). The recent winters, first dates and records come from the same stations' daily lows in NOAA's GHCN-Daily archive, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026. The 7 night forecast is the National Weather Service's and the outlook is the Climate Prediction Center's.
