Here Is How Cold It Has Gotten In Each State

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We've seen multiple bouts of shivering arctic air in the United States so far this winter, but to reach anywhere near the bar of all-time record cold in each state is a rare feat.

Lower 48 records range from minus 2 degrees to minus 70 degrees. The graphic below shows the all-time coldest temperature on record in each state, according to NOAA. Those record-low benchmarks range from single digits and teens below zero in some Southeast states and Delaware to between minus 60 and minus 70 degrees in parts of the northern Plains and Rockies.

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Even Florida has seen a subzero temperature with Tallahassee dropping to minus 2 degrees during the most brutal U.S. cold outbreak on record in Feb. 1899. Montana is the coldest in continental U.S. history, dropping to minus 70 degrees at Rogers Pass on Jan. 20, 1954.

(​MORE: Most Extreme U.S. Cold Outbreaks)

Alaska holds the all-time U.S. record. The mercury plummeted to 80 degrees below zero on Jan. 23, 1971, in Prospect Creek, north of Fairbanks.

Hawaii is the only state to not record a subzero temperature: The coldest temperature recorded in Hawaii is 12 degrees at the Mauna Kea Observatory, at an elevation of 13,796 feet, on May 17, 1979.

Some records date back to the 1800s while others are more recent: The oldest record was set on Jan. 22, 1885, on Mount Washington, New Hampshire, the highest peak in the Northeast, when the thermometer dropped to 50 degrees below zero.

The most recent record on the list was set on Jan. 31, 2019, in Mount Carroll, Illinois, when the temperature reached minus 38 degrees.

Notables By Region

-Midwest: One interesting, but not unexpected, note is the difference in temperature records with states south of the Great Lakes to those near and northwest of the Great Lakes. Illinois, Indiana and Ohio all have records in the 30-degree below zero range, while Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa have records that range from minus 45 to minus 55.

-Northeast: Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont all have recorded 50 degrees below zero as the coldest temperature. New York has the coldest record in the region with 52 degrees below zero, and Delaware has the warmest record at minus 17.

-South: Records are colder than you might expect in this region. South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi and Louisiana all have dropped to the teens below zero, while Tennessee has seen the mercury plunge as low as minus 32.

-West: Elevation makes a difference, as does being in the interior. Rogers Pass, Montana, which holds the record for the coldest temperature in the Lower 48 at 70 degrees below zero, rises to an elevation of 5,610 feet above sea level and is located on the Continental Divide. In Arizona, the record of minus 40 degrees was set at Hawley Lake at an elevation of 8,200 feet.

Chris Dolce has been a senior meteorologist with weather.com for over 10 years after beginning his career with The Weather Channel in the early 2000s.

Linda Lam is a lead meteorologist at weather.com. Growing up in Massachusetts she developed a fascination for winter storms and hurricanes that led her to pursue a career in meteorology.