The combination of an arctic blast, a few inches of snow cover, clear skies and calm winds did a number on the thermometer at the Lincoln Airport on Wednesday morning.
The 5 a.m. temperature plummeted to minus 17 degrees, breaking a record for Dec. 27 in Lincoln that had stood since 1924 (minus 15).
Yes, furnaces got a Wednesday workout, and agencies worked to care for those less fortunate.
Matt Talbot Kitchen & Outreach, 2121 N. 27th St., said it would expand hours it's open Thursday afternoon to provide people with a respite from the weather. Donations of hand warmers, hats, gloves and mittens are encouraged.
Forecasters had predicted low temperatures to drop to 11 below and issued a wind chill advisory for Wednesday morning, but the mercury fell to 10 below by 8 p.m. Tuesday and sunk from there.
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The rock-bottom reading was the coldest temperature recorded in Lincoln in more than 12 years, since a minus 18 mark Jan. 16, 2005. Prior to that, you have to go back to Feb. 4, 1996, for a temperature that cold.
You have to dig deeper in the record books, to 1989, to find a more-frigid December day in Lincoln. The temperature dropped to minus 23 on Dec. 23 that year.
All of this collective shivering probably has you wondering what's the coldest temperature ever recorded in Lincoln. According to the data archives at UNL's High Plains Regional Climate Center, that was minus 33, a numbing milestone recorded Jan. 12, 1974.
Temperatures rebounded reasonably Wednesday, reaching 1 degree by 11 a.m. and an eventual high of 8.
Thursday could see temps in the mid-20s before frigid conditions return for the holiday weekend. Saturday, there's a chance of snow, and Sunday night — as you're celebrating the arrival of 2018 — forecasters call for temperatures dropping to minus 15.