After mixed precipitation Thursday, the bitter cold that shut down the university and sent people into hibernation mode last week is set to move back in. Temperatures are forecasted to be between 9 and -5 degrees in Ames Friday, with wind chills reaching as low as -25.

Sound familiar? Luckily, temperatures are expected to average back out for the next ten days, with chances of snow Sunday and Tuesday.

It isn’t very often that Iowa experiences weather events that are unprecedented, but those times do occur. From deadly blizzards to unrelenting cold temperatures, here are five times when Iowa weather got crazy.

1. Jan. 9 to 12, 1975: “The Super Bowl Blizzard” affected the Midwest and Southeast, but in two different ways. Those further north experienced two feet of snow, along with 58 human fatalities and an estimated 100,000 plus farm animals killed throughout the region. Northwestern Iowa was also hit hard. For the Southeast, this impressive storm dropped 45 tornadoes and killed 12 people. “The Great Storm of 1975” doubles as one of the worst blizzards in the Midwest, and one of the largest January tornado outbreaks on record in the United States.
2. Nov. 9, 2011: Normally, four inches of snow in one day is hardly anything to be surprised by. The kicker here, though, is the fact that it happened two weeks into November. On top of that, high temperatures were back in the 50s just a few days later.
3. May 2, 2013: An unheard of May snowstorm dropped almost a foot of snow in north and south central Iowa. The city of Ames was hit with six inches of snow from this event. This storm was as historic as they come, approaching snowfall totals that have only been reached less than five times in the state’s May history.
4. Feb. 13 to 28, 2016: A 101-year-old record for widest temperature swing was broken when the wettest winter ever recorded shifted to summer. On the 13th, the temperature was -17 in Cresco. Just 15 days later, the temperature was 75 degrees in Sidney.
5. January 30, 2019: Record-breaking cold swooped down from Canada, affecting the entire Midwest. Per the Des Moines Register, the capital city hit -20 degrees with wind chills near -40, making it the coldest Jan. 30 in the history of Des Moines. The all-time coldest day was Jan. 5, 1884, when they hit -30. Sadly, this cold weather did take at least 11 lives, one of which was a University of Iowa student.

While we aren’t expected to see something new and exciting in the coming days’ weather, stay aware of the temperatures and precipitation before you head out. Remember that spring is just around the corner!