The coldest temperature ever recorded in every state

Alabama's lowest recorded temperature was -27 degrees Fahrenheit at New Market on January 30, 1966.

On this snowy January day, it was Lucille Hereford, the postmaster and town volunteer weather observer, who recorded the -27-degree temperature, calling it a "terribly cold" morning in a 1988 interview with an Alabama State climatologist.

Per a 2021 news report by WHNT, a local news outlet, the official story comes with a caveat: The temperature was initially erroneously recorded as warmer than the -24 degrees Fahrenheit reported at Russellville the same day. It wasn't until years later that a Birmingham reporter uncovered the truth, and the National Climatic Data Center finally issued a correction in its records.

Alaska's lowest recorded temperature was -80 degrees Fahrenheit at Prospect Creek Camp on January 23, 1971.

The Anchorage Daily News reported in 2013 that there have been unofficial measurements of even lower temperatures. On the National Weather Service Alaska website, Phil Schaefer said it hit -84 degrees Fahrenheit in Coldfoot in 1989, and Joe Cochran said the temperature in Hughes dropped to -85 degrees Fahrenheit in the '90s, The Daily News reported.

However, the Prospect Creek Camp temperature is the only one that's been verified.

This is the lowest temperature ever recorded in the US.

Arizona's lowest recorded temperature was -40 degrees Fahrenheit at Hawley Lake on January 7, 1971.

Hawley Lake isn't a town so much as a remote weather station, but it's important in Arizona's meteorological history. In addition to setting a state record for 91 inches of snow in 1968, the overseer of Hawley Lake, Stan Bryte, recorded the state's lowest temperature of -40 degrees Fahrenheit in 1971, per AZCentral.

In fact, on the morning of January 7, 1971, Bryte's chief meteorologist told him, "You need to get up to Hawley Lake. I have a suspicion this is going to be a real record."

Arkansas' lowest recorded temperature was -29 degrees Fahrenheit in Brook Farm Pond near Gravette on February 13, 1905.

Brook Farm Pond is near the town of Gravette, which has just over 3,500 residents, according to census data.

It is located in Benton County, which has the motto "The Heart of Hometown America." At one time, it also bore the name of "Gate Community" for serving as a gateway to northwest Arkansas from Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. 

California's lowest recorded temperature was -45 degrees Fahrenheit in Boca on January 20, 1937.

The Los Angeles Times reported in 1937 that the low temperatures had brought "influenza, frozen toes, broken water pipes and automobile radiators, icy streets and traffic disruption."

Colorado's lowest recorded temperature was -61 degrees Fahrenheit in Maybell on February 1, 1985.

CBS News reported in January 2023 that Maybell, located 25 miles west of Craig, is home to just 76 people.

 Maybell resident of 56 years Georgia McIntyre told 9News in 2015, "You don't think about how cold it is. You just put all the clothes you've got on, and we even put newspapers in our shoes because we didn't have all these fancy things you have now."

Connecticut has recorded temperatures of -32 degrees Fahrenheit twice: First in Falls Village on February 16, 1943, and then again in Coventry on January 22, 1961.

In 1943, a National Weather Service observer noted February was a "relatively mild month" in Connecticut, only for the state to record its coldest temperature in the state's history 16 days into the month, per a 2023 CT Insider article.

A freezing day in January just 18 years later would hit that same low temperature.

Delaware's lowest recorded temperature was -17 degrees Fahrenheit in Millsboro on January 17, 1893.

Thirty-seven years later, a Millsboro weather station recorded a temperature of 110 degrees Fahrenheit on a scorching July day, according to the National Weather Service.

Florida's lowest recorded temperature was -2 degrees Fahrenheit in Tallahassee on February 13, 1899.

WTXL Tallahassee reported in 2020 that in Tallahassee 124 years ago, an inch of snow coated the city (its third biggest snowfall ever), and a record low of -2 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded.

Headlines at the time read "All Previous Records Broken," and editors were calling the storm, "The Snow King," "The Ice King," and "the Great Blizzard of 1899," Tallahassee Democrat reported in 2018.

Georgia's lowest recorded temperature was -17 degrees Fahrenheit in CCC Fire Camp F-16 near Beatum on January 27, 1940.

Not even 12 years later, on July 24, 1952, Georgia recorded its highest temperature at 112 degrees Fahrenheit in Louisville and again on August 20, 1983, in Greenville, according to NOAA's State Climate Extremes Committee.

Hawaii's lowest recorded temperature was 12 degrees Fahrenheit at the Mauna Kea Observatory on May 17, 1979.

Forecasters think this record may have changed because, on February 11, 2019, several sensors at the Mauna Kea Observatory reported temperatures between 8 and 11 degrees Fahrenheit, Khon2 reported in 2022, but it has yet to be confirmed.

Idaho's lowest recorded temperature was -60 degrees Fahrenheit in Island Park Dam on January 18, 1943.

Island Park Dam is located in the Targhee National Forest in the northeast corner of the state. It's tied for the eighth coldest temperature ever recorded in the US.

Illinois' lowest recorded temperature was -38 degrees Fahrenheit in Mount Carroll on January 31, 2019.

Frigid temperatures across Illinois in late January 2019 led to a startling discovery: On the morning of January 31, the weather observer at Mount Carroll in Carroll County recorded a temperature drop to -38 degrees Fahrenheit.

Only after an extensive review did the State Climate Extremes Committee collectively validate the reading as the new state record low temperature, The State Journal-Register reported in 2019.

Indiana's lowest recorded temperature was -36 degrees Fahrenheit in New Whiteland on January 19, 1994.

ABC57 reported in 2020 that all temperatures across Indiana dropped below zero on the morning of January 19, 1994.

In a newscast from 1994 for WRTV Indianapolis, a mail carrier told former Channel 6 meteorologist David James, "Well, I'll tell you, it's better today than it was yesterday, 'cuz there's not that wind. So, I don't mind this at all."

Iowa's lowest recorded temperature was -47 degrees Fahrenheit in Elkader on February 3, 1996. Previously, it was in Washta on January 12, 1912.

Iowa was one of many states in the Midwest that experienced the "1996 Cold Wave," as KCRG-TV9 described it in 2016.

Kansas' lowest recorded temperature was -40 degrees Fahrenheit in Lebanon on February 13, 1905.

The winter of 1905 was reportedly so bitterly cold that "it was impossible for one to face the storm," according to "Reno County Kansas, Its People, Industries, and Institutions," by B.F. Bowen & Co. Inc. of Indianapolis, published in 1917 and reported in 2014 by The Kansas City Star.

Kentucky's lowest recorded temperature was -37 degrees Fahrenheit in Shelbyville on January 19, 1994.

According to meteorologist John Belski, January 19, 1994, "was certainly a day for the history books." 

"Those who were not around in 1994, it was the only time I can remember when grocery stores in parts of Louisville ran out of food and gas stations ran out of gas that week since no deliveries were able to be made for several days. It was so strange to see people walking in the middle of Bardstown Road and also Broadway," he recalled for WLKY News in 2020.

Louisiana's lowest recorded temperature was -16 degrees Fahrenheit in Minden on February 13, 1899.

Over two weeks in February 1899, freezing weather swept over the US, with record-low minimum temperatures recorded in 12 states. According to weather historian David Ludlum in "The Great Arctic Outbreak and East Coast Blizzard of February 1899," this was "the greatest arctic outbreak in history" at the time.

Maine's lowest recorded temperature was -50 degrees Fahrenheit in Big Black River on January 16, 2009.

After a month of scrutinizing weather data, scientists said in February 2009 that Maine had reached a record low: 50 below freezing.

After much evaluation by the State Climate Extreme Committee, "It turned out [the -50 reading] was spot on," Bob Lent, Maine director of the US Geological Survey, said, as reported by NBC News in 2009.

Maryland's lowest recorded temperature was -40 degrees Fahrenheit in Oakland on January 13, 1912.

Oakland, Maryland, is home to 1,851 people, according to census data. It was established in 1849 and became a well-known tourist spot when the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad built a rail line that traveled through the town, according to Britannica.

Massachusetts's lowest recorded temperature was -35 degrees Fahrenheit in Chester on January 12, 1981; in Coldbrook on February 15, 1943; and in Taunton on January 5, 1904.

The same temperature was previously recorded in Coldbrook on February 15, 1943, and in Taunton on January 5, 1904.

Michigan's lowest recorded temperature was -51 degrees Fahrenheit in Vanderbilt on February 9, 1934.

Only 11 states have recorded colder temperatures than Michigan: Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Minnesota's lowest recorded temperature was -60 degrees Fahrenheit in Tower on February 2, 1996.

The average low in this sparsely populated former mining town is usually around 4 degrees Fahrenheit in February, according to WorldClimate.com.

Mississippi's lowest recorded temperature was -19 degrees Fahrenheit in Corinth on January 30, 1966.

By contrast, Mississippi's highest recorded temperature was recorded 36 years prior on July 29, 1930, when the mercury in Holly Springs hit 115 degrees Fahrenheit.

Missouri's lowest recorded temperature was -40 degrees Fahrenheit in Warsaw on February 13, 1905.

Interestingly enough, the coldest and hottest temperatures recorded in Missouri have both been in Warsaw, according to the University of Missouri Climate Center. The hottest temperature was a whopping 118 degrees Fahrenheit on July 14, 1954.

Montana's lowest recorded temperature was -70 degrees Fahrenheit in Rogers Pass on January 20, 1954.

"It's a day that will probably live in American history forever," Corby Dickerson, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said of the record, NBC Montana reported in February 2023. "It was the coldest day ever observed in the lower 48 states."

Nebraska's lowest recorded temperature was -47 degrees Fahrenheit in Oshkosh on December 22, 1989. Previously, it was in Bridgeport on February 12, 1899.

The biggest snowstorm on the southeast US coast was known as the "Christmas Snowstorm of 1989," according to The National Weather Service, and it was felt all the way to Nebraska. It broke snowfall records in several states, and unheard-of temperatures followed.

Nevada's lowest recorded temperature was -50 degrees Fahrenheit in San Jacinto on January 8, 1937.

Fifty-seven years after the state's cold temperature, a weather station in Laughlin recorded a temperature of 125 degrees Fahrenheit in June, per data from NOAA's State Climate Extremes Committee.

New Hampshire's lowest recorded temperature was -50 degrees Fahrenheit in Mount Washington on January 22, 1885.

More recently, sensors on Mount Washington logged the US' coldest windchill on record: -108. The Weather Service office serving Mount Washington posted in February 2023 that its recording software refused to log the reported low number.

New Jersey's lowest recorded temperature was -34 degrees Fahrenheit in River Vale on January 5, 1904.

"That was a very cold morning in northeastern New Jersey," David Robinson, a New Jersey State Climatologist, told NJ.com in 2019.

"A deep fresh snow cover, the valley location, adjacent to a pond that was used to make ice, and a generally treeless landscape near the station all helped contribute to the excessive cold."

New Mexico's lowest recorded temperature was -50 degrees Fahrenheit in Gavilan on February 1, 1951.

Conversely, the hottest temperature in New Mexico was recorded on June 27, 1994, at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Loving, where it reached a blazing 122 degrees Fahrenheit.

New York's lowest recorded temperature was -52 degrees Fahrenheit in Old Forge on February 18, 1979.

Jane Tormey, the official weather watcher for Old Forge for CNY Central, recalled in 2013, "People were saying their milk froze on the way home from the store to home. A lot of cars obviously couldn't get started. My car window driver's side was shattered."

North Carolina's lowest recorded temperature was -34 degrees Fahrenheit in Mount Mitchell on January 21, 1985.

One of the past century's most extreme arctic outbreaks occurred between January 18 and January 22, 1985. According to the National Weather Service, newspapers at the time reported at least 165 deaths related to the weather.

North Dakota's lowest recorded temperature was -60 degrees Fahrenheit in Parshall on February 15, 1936.

Coincidentally, both the hottest and coldest temperatures recorded in North Dakota's history happened in the same year, with Steele hitting 121 degrees Fahrenheit on July 6, 1936, KYFR-TV reported in 2023.

Ohio's lowest recorded temperature was -39 degrees Fahrenheit in Milligan on February 10, 1899.

Ohio was another state affected by the unprecedented cold of February 1899. The US Weather Bureau reported 105 fatalities between January 29 and February 13 from the arctic temperatures and avalanches brought on by "the Great Arctic Outbreak."

Oklahoma's lowest recorded temperature was -31 degrees Fahrenheit in Nowata on February 10, 2011.

2011 was reportedly Oklahoma's third snowiest year, and the state's record for most snowfall in 24 hours was reached in Spavinaw, with 27 inches, FOX23 News reported in 2020.

Oregon's lowest recorded temperature was -54 degrees Fahrenheit in Ukiah on February 9, 1933, and in Seneca on February 10, 1933.

Ukiah and Seneca are occasionally known as "Oregon's Icebox" due to their icy winter conditions. That said, Meacham residents have said the temperature once plummeted to -62 degrees Fahrenheit, but it has never been proven officially, The Oregonian wrote in 2010.

Pennsylvania's lowest recorded temperature was -42 degrees Fahrenheit in Smethport on January 5, 1904.

By contrast, in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, two consecutive days of 111 degrees Fahrenheit were recorded on July 9, 1936 and July 10, 1936, in the hottest temperature ever recorded in the state.

Phoenixville is five hours from Smethport, where the coldest temperature was recorded 32 years prior.

Rhode Island's lowest recorded temperature was -28 degrees Fahrenheit in Wood River Junction on January 11, 1942.

According to NOAA's State Climate Extremes Committee, -25 degrees Fahrenheit was previously reported at Greene, Rhode Island, on February 5, 1996, but it could not be verified.

South Carolina's lowest recorded temperature was -19 degrees Fahrenheit in Caesar's Head on January 21, 1985.

In 1985, in the Carolinas, the coldest temperatures ever recorded were dubbed "The Coldest Day," WMBF News reported in 2020.

South Dakota's lowest recorded temperature was -58 degrees Fahrenheit in McIntosh on February 17, 1936.

McIntosh was home to just 111 people in 2020. It is the county seat of Corson County.

Tennessee's lowest recorded temperature was -32 degrees Fahrenheit in Mountain City on December 30, 1917.

The two days of 113 degrees Fahrenheit were recorded in Perryville on July 29, 1930, and August 9, 1930, making them the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Tennessee.

Texas' lowest recorded temperature was -23 degrees Fahrenheit in Seminole on February 8, 1933. The same temperature was also recorded in Tulia 6NE on February 12, 1899.

Texas is known for its heat, but even this state has seen severe drops in temperatures — the best known was during the Great Blizzard of 1899.

Some unofficial reports even claim temperatures reached -30 degrees Fahrenheit in February 1899 at Wolf Creek, Texas. Either way, the Concho Valley Homepage reported in 2022 that newspapers in 1899 described the temperatures as "the worst freeze ever known in the state."

Utah's lowest recorded temperature was -50 degrees Fahrenheit in Strawberry Tunnel (East) on January 5, 1913.

By contrast, the city of St. George has been home to the state's record for hottest temperature — twice. A temperature of 117 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded in July 1985 and again in July 2021.

Vermont's lowest recorded temperature was -50 degrees Fahrenheit in Bloomfield on December 30, 1933.

Bloomfield, a town in Essex County, had a population of 217 in the 2020 US census. The weather station existed from 1906 to 1968, according to Century 21 Farm & Forest.

Virginia's lowest recorded temperature was -30 degrees Fahrenheit in Mountain Lake Biological Station on January 21, 1985.

Centered in the Allegheny Mountains is Mountain Lake, one of only two freshwater lakes in Virginia, according to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources.

Just a year after this temperature was recorded in 1985, Mountain Lake was made famous again for "Dirty Dancing," which is where the movie was filmed.

Washington's lowest recorded temperature was -48 degrees Fahrenheit on December 30, 1968, in two different towns: Mazama and Winthrop.

On June 29, 2021, Hanford, Washington, reached 120 degrees Fahrenheit, the hottest recorded temperature in that state. 

West Virginia's lowest recorded temperature was -37 degrees Fahrenheit in Lewisburg on December 30, 1917.

Just 13 years later, the highest temperature recorded was 112 degrees Fahrenheit in Moorefield, West Virginia, on August 4, 1930.

Wisconsin recorded the lowest temperature in the state's history on February 2, 1996, in Couderay. Two days later, it broke its own record at -55 degrees.

The coldest temperature recorded in Wisconsin ranks ninth in the nation.

Wyoming's lowest recorded temperature was -66 degrees Fahrenheit in Riverside Ranger Station in Yellowstone National Park on February 9, 1933.

Although Yellowstone's temperatures in Wyoming haven't plummeted to the levels they once did in 1933, "since most of the park lies at an elevation of 6,000 feet above sea level or higher, unpredictability characterizes Yellowstone's weather," the National Park Service has said.

Correction: January 9, 2024 — An earlier version of this story included an image that was mislabeled as Minden, Louisiana. The photo has been replaced with one of Minden.