With the holidays upon us, winter, with its short days and freezing nights, is about to befall the United States.
Regardless of the region of the country, every state experiences a certain level of cold in winter. Even in Hawaii, temperatures drop below 40 degrees during the coldest time of year in the higher elevations of the islands. (Find out if Hawaii is home to any of most dangerous volcanoes on the planet.)
As winter approaches, 24/7 Wall St. has identified America’s 50 coldest cities, using data compiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
In 45 states, the coldest month of the year is January. December and February are the coldest months in the other states. You may recall that February 2021 was a brutally cold month. During that month, Billings, Montana, and Fargo, North Dakota, persisted in their longest sub-zero spells since 1983 and 1996, respectively.
The coldest city of all but two of the states has an average low temperature during their coldest month of zero or less. The states with the coldest cities are in the Midwest, Great Plains, Mountain States, and New England. A prolonged cold can make you yearn for the sweltering summer days. But you might still want to stay away from the hottest inhabited places on Earth.
Anyone can guess what this winter will bring. In its annual winter forecast, the NOAA Climate Prediction Center predicts above-average temperatures in the southern and most eastern United States for the second consecutive winter. Below average temperatures are forecast for parts of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.
Click here to see the coldest city in each state
To identify the coldest city in each state, 24/7 Wall St. examined the average minimum temperature for the years 1991-2020 for U.S. cities with data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA collects temperatures observed by local weather stations.
Additional data points, including average low temperatures during each city’s coldest month and the average number of days the temperature drops to 32 Â° F or below, also come from NOAA. These averages include all years between 1991 and 2020 for which data are available.
Census-designated localities and township communities were included in addition to cities for some states where the required data sets were available.