Coldest Places in United States

Lowest Temperatures

The lowest temperature ever recorded in the United States was -80 degrees Fahrenheit (-62 degrees Celsius) on January 23, 1971 at Prospect Creek Camp, located near the Arctic Circle along the Alaska pipeline. This is not much warmer than the -81.4 °F record low for North America that Snag in the Yukon dropped to on February 3, 1947. On that extremely cold February day, Tanacross Alaska reached -75 °F.

The lower 48 states of the US hit their official coldest temperature of -70 °F on January 20, 1954 at Rogers Pass, Montana. The pass sits at 5,470 feet (1,667 metres) elevation in the Rocky Mountains, northwest of Helena.

States in America where temperatures have dropped to -50 °F (-45 °C) or lower at least once

Location	°F	°C	Date
Prospect Creek Camp, Alaska	-80	-62.2	Jan 23, 1971
Rogers Pass, Montana	-70	-56.7	Jan 20, 1954
Peter’s Sink, Utah	-69	-56.1	Feb 1, 1985
Riverside RS, Wyoming	-66	-54.4	Feb 9, 1933
Maybell, Colorado	-61	-51.7	Feb 1, 1985
Island Park Dam, Idaho	-60	-51.1	Jan 18, 1943
Tower, Minnesota	-60	-51.1	Feb 2, 1996
Parshall, North Dakota	-60	-51.1	Feb 15, 1936
McIntosh, South Dakota	-58	-50.0	Feb 17, 1936
Tetonia, Idaho	-57	-49.4	Feb 9, 1933
Couderay, Wisconsin	-55	-48.3	Feb 4, 1996
Seneca, Oregon	-54	-47.8	Feb 10, 1933
Old Forge, New York	-52	-46.7	Feb 18, 1979
Vanderbilt, Michigan	-51	-46.1	Feb 9, 1934
Bloomfield, Vermont	-50	-45.6	Dec 30, 1933
Big Black River, Maine	-50	-45.6	Jan 16, 2009
Gavilan, New Mexico	-50	-45.6	Feb 1, 1951
Mount Washington, New Hampshire	-50	-45.6	Jan 22, 1885
San Jacinto, Nevada	-50	-45.6	Jan 8, 1937

Coldest Weather All Year

The coldest climate year-round in the United States is on Alaska's north coast, along the Beaufort Sea. This region has annual temperature averages of around 12 °F (-11 °C).

Outside of Alaska, just four places among 7,200 weather stations average a year-round temperature that's below freezing. The peak of Mount Washington in New Hampshire has the coldest climate over the year.

Many of the twenty coldest places are near the Continental Divide in Colorado or in and around Yellowstone National Park. They all have an annual mean temperature of less than 35 °F (1.7 °C).

Of the four towns that make this list, the coldest is Crested Butte in Colorado, a recreation resort located high in the mountains. Leadville and West Yellowstone are other mountain towns that rank among the nation's coldest spots.

In fact all places but one among the coldest 20 are at high elevations. The outlier is Embarrass, Minnesota, a rural center north of Duluth in St Louis County, near Lake Vermilion. At 1,400 feet (427 m), it's the only site here that's below 6,000 feet (1,829 m).

Places in the lower 48 states with the lowest average annual temperature

Location	°F	°C
Mt Washington, New Hampshire	27.4	-2.6
Climax Mine, Colorado	30.6	-0.8
Darwin Ranch, Wyoming	31.0	-0.6
Bonham-Wells Reservoir, Colorado	31.4	-0.3
Wolf Creek Ski Area, Colorado	33.2	0.7
Mt Evans Field Station, Colorado	33.4	0.8
Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming	33.4	0.8
Crested Butte, Colorado	33.8	1.0
Electric Lake, Utah	33.8	1.0
Daniel Fish Hatchery, Wyoming	34.0	1.1
Burgess Junction, Wyoming	34.1	1.2
Leadville, Colorado	34.2	1.2
Old Faithful, Wyoming	34.2	1.2
Yellowstone Park South Entrance, Wyoming	34.4	1.3
West Yellowstone, Montana	34.4	1.3
Embarrass, Minnesota	34.5	1.4
Taylor Park Reservoir, Colorado	34.6	1.4
Bondurant, Wyoming	34.7	1.5
Blowhard Mountain, Utah	34.8	1.6
Cooke City-Silver Gate, Montana	34.9	1.6

The mean annual temperatures given here are long-term historical averages, based on weather data collected from 1981 to 2010 for the NOAA's National Climatic Data Center.

Places with the Most Days of Freezing Temperatures

The place in the United States that most often drops below freezing is not in the far north, as you'd expect. Instead it’s in California, a state known more for warmth than incessant cold.

Brodie lies at 8,369 feet (2,551 metres) elevation near the Nevada border, north of Mono Lake. The former mining town even has more days of frost than anywhere in Alaska. Not surprisingly, people gave up on living in Brodie and it's now a ghost town.

Still, not all places that frequently freeze are remote or abandoned. Several currently inhabited towns include Stanley, Fraser, Wisdom, Leadville, Silverton and Dillon.

Places in the USA outside of Alaska with temperatures of 32 °F or less on 270 or more days a year

Location	Freezing Days
Bodie, California	308
Darwin Ranch, Wyoming	298
Stanley, Idaho	292
Fraser, Colorado	288
Fremont Forest, near Fort Rock, Oregon	288
Charleston Reservoir, Nevada	281
Yellowstone Park South Entrance, Wyoming	280
Wisdom, Montana	277
Daniel Fish Hatchery, Wyoming	276
Wise River, Montana	275
Warren, Idaho	275
Dixie, Idaho County, Idaho	274
Leadville, Colorado	273
Climax Mine, Colorado	273
Wild Horse Reservoir, Nevada	272
Silverton, Colorado	271
Dillon, Colorado	271
Antero Reservoir, Colorado	270
State Forest State Park, Colorado	270

Most Days with Coldest Temperature

On any single day, the mountain town of Stanley, Idaho is most often the coldest place in the states outside of Alaska. Stanley is nestled in the midst of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area at 6,260 feet (1,908 metres) elevation.

Top ten spots for the most days from 1995 to 2005 with the lowest temperature in the contiguous US

Location	Days
Stanley, Idaho	398
West Yellowstone, Montana	337
Gunnison, Colorado	170
Truckee, California	161
Alamosa, Colorado	142
Saranac Lake, New York	128
Jackson, Wyoming	109
Berlin, New Hampshire	92
Fraser, Colorado	91
Wisdom, Montana	91