These cities are approaching or setting records for the number of days of extreme cold

Here is a sample of cold stretches for some locations and where they rank historically:

Ice is removed from a plane in Houston.

— Oklahoma City: Wednesday is the ninth consecutive day without topping 20 degrees, an all-time record. The previous longest stretch was five days in 1983.
— Dallas: Wednesday is the fourth consecutive day below freezing, and the temperature is not forecast to climb above freezing until Friday afternoon. This will be the longest stretch (six days) since 1983 and a top-five longest stretch since records began in 1898.
— Houston: Wednesday is the fourth consecutive day below 40 degrees, and the forecast does not call for temperatures above 40 until Friday. This will be tied for the second-longest stretch below 40 and the longest since 1983.

— Austin, Texas: Wednesday is the sixth consecutive day without topping 35 degrees, already the longest stretch on record. This is expected to last until Friday, for a total of seven days below 35. (The old record was five days in 1983.)
— Memphis, Tennessee: Wednesday is the sixth consecutive day below freezing, the fourth-longest streak. Memphis is expected to stay below freezing through Friday, which will tie the all-time record of nine days below freezing.
— Little Rock, Arkansas: Wednesday is the seventh consecutive day below freezing (a top-five longest stretch). This streak could reach nine days by Friday and will be the second-longest stretch in history (behind 1983’s 12 days).