OK, we all know......

[HurricaneBill]

The record for lowest barometric pressure in a tropical cyclone is Super Typhoon Tip in 1979 with a barometric pressure of 870 mb (25.69 in).

But then I wondered, what is the lowest barometric pressure observed in an extratropical cyclone?

It took quite a bit of online searching, but I found the answer.
No extratropical cyclone has ever come close to Tip's record, but I was surprised at how low the record for an extratropical cyclone was.

Here's the link:

http://www.weatherwise.org/qr/qry.lowpressurefollowup.html

[CaluWxBill]

It certainly makes sense. The Gulf Stream I believe reaches further north than any other warm current in the world, this combined with the great amount of Coriolis force should allow for strong Baroclinic set up, with Labrador and the Greenland Icecap.

[Hyperstorm]

I am also amazed on how low these storms can go...916mb. I only expected them to be not much lower than the 940s. Although, I'm sure there have been lower-pressure storms, but were not documented.

Very interesting information. Thanks for researching it.

[Hyperstorm]

I have found some more interesting information about 2 storms (including the one that you posted about) that had a similar pressure (estimated by ships, etc.) and are both tied for the record of 916. Even more so, there are estimates by some meteorological offices that it was as low as 912mb!

Here's a VERY interesting read about both storms...

http://www.metoffice.com/corporate/pres ... w1986.html

[Stormsfury]

Nice find ...

[Hyperstorm]

Here's an interesting excerpt:

"Two active depressions which formed in the general area of Newfoundland followed converging paths and combined to produce the major feature generating the record reading. Before the two circulations were absorbed into each other, their central pressures were 956 mb and 960 mb - both already deep."

Imagine that! I even thought it was meteorologically impossible to have such powerful low pressure centers (956 & 960 mb) MERGE into one GIGANTIC and EXPLOSIVE storm which continued to deepen. In layman's terms it was definitely meteorological BOMB.

Interestingly, one could not say the same happens in hurricanes...(Fujiwara)