It was colder than Mars, it was colder than the North Pole — let's call it a New Year's Eve to remember.

And if you thought this was the coldest New Year’s Eve you’ve ever experienced, there’s a reason for that.

It probably was.

The year 2013 drew to a close with the delivery of the coldest December day Winnipeg has seen in 80 years, with temperatures plunging early in the day to -37.9 C. It hasn’t been this cool in Winnipeg in December since 1933, said Dale Marciski, a meteorologist with Environment Canada.

There has been a cooler New Year’s Eve on record, with the mercury dropping to -38.3 C on Dec. 31, 1884. But that is of little solace to most Winnipeggers enduring a cold that, with the windchill factored in, felt like -48 C.

It was even warmer on the surface of Mars, according to the Manitoba Museum.

“According to the Curiosity Rover, Mars reached a maximum air temperature of -29°C today. Winnipeg's high was -31°C,” the museum posted on Twitter.

Not to mention the North Pole. A photo of the two temperatures side by side — it was 10 degrees warmer at the North Pole — went viral early New Year's Eve.

2014 started off slightly warmer with Wednesday’s high of -25 C and windchill of -33 C.

That was good news for the few hundred running in the 29th annual 5K Resolution Run at 10:30 a.m.

Overall, it can be called a fairly horrendous month, weather-wise, for Winnipeg and most of the province. With an average temperature of only -20.9 C, it was the second-coldest December Winnipeggers have seen in 120 years, and sixth-coldest overall.

One person died from exposure to the conditions during the month and shelters are reporting they’re packed to capacity as the homeless try to stay warm.

Meanwhile, United Airlines cancelled flights to and from Winnipeg for the last two days of December, telling passengers the conditions were too cold for their planes to safely fly.

This led to Astronaut Chris Hadfield to quip in a Tweet: "Wusses.”

CAA Manitoba broke its mark for service calls in a month, with spokeswoman Liz Peters confirming 20,200 calls were placed in December.

Manitoba Hydro broke its record for energy consumption in a single day, with electricity use peaking at 4,547 megawatts on Dec. 23 at 9 a.m. The province’s population growth and economy likely played a role in that record, said Scott Powell, a spokesman for Manitoba Hydro, noting the Crown corporation services more customers than it used to. But the frigid weather has certainly been a factor.

Powell expected the Dec. 23 record to stand despite the fact Dec. 31 was roughly 10 degrees cooler, noting many offices and manufacturing facilities likely didn’t bother opening for New Year’s Eve.

If all that wasn’t enough bad news for Winnipeggers, Marciski said the forecast for January doesn’t look very encouraging.

“I know this isn’t what people want to hear, but other than for a brief warm-up on Friday, there’s no break in the cold until at least the middle of next week,” said Marciski.“Stay warm if you can and watch the wind chill, because it can be brutal.”