As parts of the Midwest brace for, and experience, the most brutal stretch of frigid weather in a generation, it might make you wonder: What’s the coldest it’s ever gotten in our state?
Or, what’s the coldest it’s ever gotten in the United States?
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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, better known as NOAA, provided some data this week to answer those questions.
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You might be surprised by the numbers. Even in Florida, the temperature has dropped to -2 degrees. It happened on Feb. 13, 1899, in Tallahassee, according to weather.com.
The coldest it’s ever been in the U.S. was in -- you guessed it! -- Alaska. Just north of Fairbanks, on Jan. 23, 1971, the temperature was 80 degrees below zero. In the contiguous U.S., Montana takes home the coldest-ever award. It was -70 degrees at Rogers Pass on Jan. 20, 1954.
The more you know, right?