Lake History: The 1989 Winter Storm That Set Records At Lake Of The Ozarks & Across The Country

The winter storm blowing through the heart of the U.S. will plunge places like Lake of the Ozarks into uncommonly cold temperatures, with a low of -7 degrees expected on Thursday night. For comparison, normally this time of year the overnight low is 28 degrees, according to NOAA data.

But this Christmas-week deep-chill pales in comparison to the wintry blast that set records for the Lake of the Ozarks and much of the country back in 1989.

From December 21-23, 1989 a massive high-pressure system rushed across the U.S., stretching all the way down to Mexico's Lower Rio Grande Valley. It dropped to 7 degrees in Houston, which saw more than an inch of snow. And Brownsville, Texas temps fell to 16 degrees.

On the east coast, Miami residents were forced to bundle up, as they were hit with a hard freeze. And in Key West, vacationers fleeing colder climes were forced to don sweaters (who even brought one?) as the island matched its December record-low of 44 degrees. When the system hit the east coast, it brought snow. Tampa and Sarasota got flurries, Jacksonville and Tallahassee saw measurable snow, and it was a white Christmas in Savannah, Ga. where they received a snowfall record with an incredible 3.6". Charleston, South Carolina was buried under 8". The Orlando Sentinel newspaper later reported that the mass damage to the region's citrus groves ran many citrus growers out of business: they sold their groves to cover their losses, and those areas now constitute part of Orlando's urban sprawl.

Back in the Midwest, Scottsbluff, Neb. reached an inconceivable -42 degrees. And Lake of the Ozarks plunged to -15 degrees on Dec. 22, 1989. Temps never climbed above zero that day: the high was -1. The chill stuck around for several days, with temperatures hitting a low of -15 three days in a row, until Christmas Day.

And just to round out this chilling piece with a few thawing thoughts: the warmest Dec. 22 on record for Lake of the Ozarks was only the third year of the Lake's existence: on Dec. 22, 1933, the temperature reached a balmy 77.