Today is the date of Iowa’s all time record low of -47° set at Elkader in 1996. This was a part of a major cold spell that occurred over a 5-6 day period at the end of January and early February. On Feb 3rd 1996 numerous records fell, with Des Moines dropping to -26 (still a record), Waterloo -31 (still a record), Mason City -28 (still a record), Ottumwa -27 (still a record), -28 in Moline IL (still a record), -26 in Cedar Rapids (still a record), -26 in Burlington (still a record).