Coldest day in Pittsburgh history ~
According to the National Weather Service, which has temperature information back to 1871, that date was Jan. 19, 1994, when the temperature hit a low of 22 degrees below zero. I remember being at my parent's house on this day. I had to start my car which was parked on the street in front of their house. I was in the weather maybe 60 seconds. When I returned, I could barely breathe.
Jan. 19 also holds the Weather Service's distinction for being the "coldest day on record" -- the 24 hours with the lowest average temperature.
How cold is 22 degrees below zero?
Cold enough to kill an 81-year-old housewife in West Mifflin who'd stepped out to get her mail in her bathroom slippers, and as you know, nothing kills 81-year-old housewives in West Mifflin.
Cold enough to compel then-Gov. Robert Casey to declare a state emergency and urge workers to go home early: Demand for electricity was so high that in some parts of the state, utilities engaged in "rolling blackouts" to prevent the entire grid from shutting down.
One of the things you can count on in Pittsburgh is that, no matter how hot or cold it gets, some oldster down the street is going to claim that it used to be much colder back in the winter of ought-six, or hotter in '37.
"You kids today, with your iPods and your roller derbies don't know what hardship is," they say.
And then nod sagely to themselves.
One Steeler fan claims the coldest day in Pittsburgh history was Dec. 8, 2002, when the Steelers lost to the expansion Houston Texans. But to experience temperatures that low, you had to be at the game.
