Coldest American Cities
The major US city that ranks as the coldest depends upon what aspect of temperature is being measured. Denver, Colorado has recorded the lowest temperature of any large American city, at -30 °F. With an average 156 days a year when the temperature drops below 32 °F, Denver also gets a lot more freezing weather than any other big US city.
Meanwhile in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the daily temperature averages 47.5 °F for the year, making Milwaukee colder than Denver and several other large cities, according to that measure.
No matter how you consider cold, though, Milwaukee, Denver and Chicago always show up among the five most frigid of the 40 largest cities in the United States.
Major cities included in these weather rankings are all the cities in the United States with over 440,000 people on July 1, 2006, according to the US Census Bureau's estimates.
Lowest Temperatures
| City | Lowest °F |
|---|---|
| Denver, Colorado | -30 |
| Chicago, Illinois | -27 |
| Indianapolis, Indiana | -27 |
| Milwaukee, Wisconsin | -26 |
| Kansas City, Missouri | -23 |
| Louisville, Kentucky | -22 |
| Columbus, Ohio | -22 |
| Detroit, Michigan | -21 |
| Cleveland, Ohio | -20 |
| Albuquerque, New Mexico | -17 |
| Nashville, Tennessee | -17 |
| New York, New York | -15 |
Coolest Weather
| City | °F Daily Average |
|---|---|
| Milwaukee, Wisconsin | 47.5 |
| Chicago, Illinois | 49.1 |
| Cleveland, Ohio | 49.6 |
| Detroit, Michigan | 49.7 |
| Denver, Colorado | 50.1 |
| Boston, Massachusetts | 51.6 |
| Indianapolis, Indiana | 52.5 |
| Columbus, Ohio | 52.9 |
| Seattle, Washington | 52.9 |
| Portland, Oregon | 53.5 |
| Kansas City, Missouri | 54.2 |
| Baltimore, Maryland | 54.6 |
| New York, New York | 54.6 |
| City | Days Freezing per Year |
|---|---|
| Denver, Colorado | 156 |
| Milwaukee, Wisconsin | 135 |
| Detroit, Michigan | 131 |
| Chicago, Illinois | 129 |
| Cleveland, Ohio | 120 |
| Columbus, Ohio | 114 |
| Indianapolis, Indiana | 113 |
| Albuquerque, New Mexico | 110 |
| Kansas City, Missouri | 108 |