Wind Chill Reaches 108 Below Zero At NH'S Mount Washington, Breaking U.S. Record

NEW HAMPSHIRE — Winter slammed the summit of New Hampshire's Mount Washington on Friday as an Arctic blast blanketing the Northeast pushed wind chills to a record-breaking 108 degrees below zero.

Temperatures at Mount Washington plummeted to nearly 47 degrees below zero early Saturday morning as wind speeds averaged close to 100 miles per hour, according to data recorded by the Mount Washington Observatory. At times, wind gusts reached 127 mph.

The prior record for the lowest wind chill recorded on Mount Washington was 103 degrees below zero, meteorologists told WMUR. The air temperature also broke the old record of 32 below zero set in 1963, according to the observatory.

Previously, the coldest recorded wind chill in the United States was 102.68 degrees below zero, reported on Jan. 16, 2004, according to Accuweather. Mount Washington broke that record Friday.

"It’s really an amazing day, an awe-inspiring day, and actually a bit of a frightening moment,” Mount Washington Observatory meteorologist Francis Tarasiewicz told WMUR. “At one point, on one of our west-facing doors, the hinge that keeps it closed broke, the force of the winds were so strong."

A polar vortex sent temperatures plunging to their lowest levels in years Friday in states across New England, according to Accuweather. The worst cold weather plunged across the Northeast on Friday and Friday night with subzero temperatures recorded across a widespread area by Saturday morning.

Mount Washington — the tallest mountain in the northeastern United States at 6,288 feet — is known for having extreme and unpredictable weather.

Video from the summit shows wind-driven snow obscuring visibility and blocking sunlight.

While intense, wind speeds didn't reach the all-time wind record set on the mountain on April 10, 1934, according to Accuweather. A 231-mph wind gust was recorded that day, the highest wind speed ever observed by an anemometer, an instrument designed to measure wind speeds.

For context, wind speeds atop Mount Washington on Friday reached the level of a Category 3 hurricane, according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Alex DaSilva.

Luckily, Mother Nature will bring back more mild temperatures as early as Sunday, though wind chills may remain bitter in some places.