Days when MW was coldest in the nation

[treant985]

I keep track of daily low temps across the nation, and it might interest some of you that Mt. Washington had the lowest temp in the lower 48 on the following days this year:

Jan 10 at -18 (Alamosa, CO, was next at -15)
Jan 17 at -32 (Craig, CO, was next at -27)
Jan 20 at -22 (Wakefield, MI, was next at -19)
Jan 25 at -28 (Saranac Lake, NY, was next at -26)
Jan 26 at -33 (Watertown, NY, and Whitefield, NH, were next at -18)

Mt. Washington doesn't get listed in the NWS report for lowest temp for those days since it officially doesn't have any population. For each of these days, at least one village in Alaska beat Mt. Washington, but five 'lower 48' national lows in one month is pretty good!

[Bill O]

Thanks for sharing, that is interesting. I'm surprised east coast towns were the coldest in the country. I would expect western locations like Yellowstone, Gunnison, or Alamosa to coast through the whole month of January.

[treant985]

Thanks for sharing, that is interesting. I'm surprised east coast towns were the coldest in the country. I would expect western locations like Yellowstone, Gunnison, or Alamosa to coast through the whole month of January.

West Yellowstone's had the coldest low on nine days so far. A lot of the mountain places like Gunnison and Alamos will keep low temps into April, but rarely get to the really frigid temps like -30 or colder. That keeps them from having the lowest in the nation during the coldest part of winter, but they make up for it in the other three seasons.

By the way, I mentioned that they don't consider Mt. Washington temps for national lows because no one lives there full time. But they do consider Death Valley, CA, for national highs, and I don't think anyone besides the observers/rangers live there....

[treant985]

Here are the dates from 12/2006 when Mount Washington was the coldest in the lower 48:

Dec 8: -12 (next lowest was -8 at Tomahawk, WI)
Dec. 27: -3 (next lowest was 1 at Alamosa, CO)
Dec. 28: -2 (next lowest was 0 at Crane Lake, MN, and Presque Isle, ME)

On December 8th, in the USA, only Northway Alaska reported a colder low than Mt. Washington; Northway was -13 that day.

I'm working backwards on these (I haven't updated my files in a while...), so I'll keep posting them if anyone's interested.

[whitemtnvisitor]

It's a little different scenario. One temp is in a populated area, & the other is where only the smart, brave, or foolish dare to go. When you walk out of your motel room in the middle of downtown Jackson, even when it's somewhere between -10 & -25 below, you are still "in town" vs. being on top of the rockpile. It's definitely in a different situation. I was on the Sherby on 2/9 during brutal conditions, but it was a situation where if you get hurt, you are going to be in trouble.

[treant985]

Looks like Mt. Washington was the coldest in the lower 48 again today. The lowest mark to come in is -18 in Doe Lake, Michigan. Mt. Washington's low was -23. It could be the coldest for tonight through tomorrow AM, too. Several AK towns still beat MW, so it's yet to truly be the coldest in the entire nation for a day this year.

[rockin rex]

Looks like Mt. Washington was the coldest in the lower 48 again today. The lowest mark to come in is -18 in Doe Lake, Michigan. Mt. Washington's low was -23. It could be the coldest for tonight through tomorrow AM, too. Several AK towns still beat MW, so it's yet to truly be the coldest in the entire nation for a day this year.

Would we be safe to say that this has now changed?? I doubt there is any place colder in the nation today, including AK than -31.

[treant985]

Would we be safe to say that this has now changed?? I doubt there is any place colder in the nation today, including AK than -31.

Looks like the low for today at MWO was -36 (although it may have dropped another degree or two between the observation reports at http://www.erh.noaa.gov/data/obhistory/KMWN.html. The next lowest today I found was -31 at Champion, Michigan, so MWO has the coldest in the contiguous states.

When it's the coldest in the lower 48 is usually when it's a bit milder in Alaska, but Alaska still beats MWO today. Nuiqsut reported -38 this morning, and there is quite likely a colder report that will come in from another station in AK for this morning.

I believe the last date on which MWO had the nation's low was Oct 6, 2006. MWO reported 22, which was also the lowest in Alaska (Northway) and in the lower 48 (Spincich Lake, MI). I believe MWO was the lone-low spot on Sept 29, 2006, when it recorded 22 and the next coldest spot (AK or otherwise) was 24 in Stanley, ID.

[treant985]

Looks like that -38 at Nuiqsut was the coldest anywhere in the USA, so MWO missed by just a degree tying for the coldest spot in the nation this morning. Maybe we'll have better luck tonight/Wed morning.

[Bill O]

Looks like that -38 at Nuiqsut was the coldest anywhere in the USA, so MWO missed by just a degree tying for the coldest spot in the nation this morning. Maybe we'll have better luck tonight/Wed morning.

Don't bet on it. Many valleys in New England are going to make a serious run at their all time lows tonight. We need some help though. The clouds need to hold off and the wind needs to die down. Isolated -40F is not out of the question in the Adirondacks or northeast kingdom of Vermont.

The cold air at 6000ft (Mount Washington's height) has shifted east and they are in a warming trend. There is another cold shot coming Thursday.