On This Day In 1996:

The mercury plunged to -45 at Preston, MN. This is their coldest temperature ever recorded. Other locations that set record low temperatures for February: In IA: Elkader (-47, also tied state record for the coldest temperature on record in Iowa), Decorah (-41), Fayette (-40, also coldest temperature on record), Guttenberg (-38, also coldest temperature on record), Oelwein (-32, also coldest temperature on record). In WI: Blair (-45), Necedah (- 41), Sparta (- 41), Trempealeau (- 41), Hillsboro (- 40), Genoa (-38), Viroqua (-37), Prairie du Chien (-36), Alma (-35), Lynxville (-34), Mauston (-34), Platteville (-32, also coldest temperature on record), Lancaster (-31, also tied with 1/23/1963 for coldest temperature ever).

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill