Extreme Temperatures

Which US states have the most extreme temperatures? Many people may be quick to say that either Texas or Florida has the hottest weather, which may or may not be correct depending on how you define the hottest weather; are we talking about the highest average temperature, or the highest record temperature?

The statistics can have a surprising amount of variation depending on which definition you use.  A state’s extreme temperatures do not necessarily reflect the normal temperatures of the state, but instead indicate the greatest highs and lows that the state has ever achieved since the state’s earliest recorded temperature; to get a more accurate representation of a state’s weather, you should consider the average temperature.

An interesting fact that stands out to me is that only a few of the states’ record temperatures are recent; the majority of the records occurred anywhere from 30 to 140 years ago.

Let’s compare the statistics of several methods of measuring temperature.

States by Average Temperature

1. Florida (71ºF)
2. Hawaii (70ºF)
3. Louisiana (66ºF)
4. Texas (65ºF)
5. Georgia (64ºF)
6. Mississippi (63ºF)
7. Alabama (63ºF)
8. South Carolina (62ºF)
9. Arkansas (60ºF)
10. Arizona (60ºF)
11. Oklahoma (60ºF)
12. California (59ºF)
13. North Carolina (59ºF)
14. Tennessee (58ºF)
15. Kentucky (56ºF)
16. Delaware (55ºF)
17. Virginia (55ºF)
18. Missouri (55ºF)
19. Kansas (54ºF)
20. Maryland (54ºF)
21. New Mexico (53ºF)
22. New Jersey (53ºF)
23. Illinois (52ºF)
24. West Virginia (52ºF)
25. Indiana (52ºF)
26. Ohio (51ºF)
27. Rhode Island (50ºF)
28. Nevada (50ºF)
29. Connecticut (49ºF)
30. Nebraska (49ºF)
31. Pennsylvania (49ºF)
32. Utah (49ºF)
33. Oregon (48ºF)
34. Washington (48ºF)
35. Massachusetts (48ºF)
36. Iowa (48ºF)
37. New York (45ºF)
38. South Dakota (45ºF)
39. Colorado (45ºF)
40. Idaho (44ºF)
41. Michigan (44ºF)
42. New Hampshire (44ºF)
43. Wisconsin (43ºF)
44. Vermont (43ºF)
45. Montana (43ºF)
46. Wyoming (42ºF)
47. Minnesota (41ºF)
48. Maine (41ºF)
49. North Dakota (40ºF)
50. Alaska (27ºF)

According to the source I used, Florida is the warmest state on average, warmer than Hawaii by less than a degree, however, other sources place Hawaii as the warmest. This means that Alaska and Hawaii are the two newest states, the only two states that are not directly connected the rest of the Nation, and the states with the lowest and highest average temperatures, depending on your source.

States by Record Highs

1. California (134ºF)
2. Arizona (128ºF)
3. Nevada (125ºF)
4. New Mexico (122ºF)
5. Kansas (121ºF)
6. North Dakota (121ºF)
7. Arkansas (120ºF)
8. Oklahoma (120ºF)
9. South Dakota (120ºF)
10. Texas (120ºF)
11. Washington (120ºF)
12. Oregon (119ºF)
13. Idaho (118ºF)
14. Iowa (118ºF)
15. Missouri (118ºF)
16. Nebraska (118ºF)
17. Utah (118ºF)
18. Illinois (117ºF)
19. Montana (117ºF)
20. Indiana (116ºF)
21. Kentucky (116ºF)
22. Colorado (115ºF)
23. Minnesota (115ºF)
24. Mississippi (115ºF)
25. Wyoming (115ºF)
26. Louisiana (114ºF)
27. Wisconsin (114ºF)
28. Ohio (113ºF)
29. South Carolina (113ºF)
30. Tennessee (113ºF)
31. Alabama (112ºF)
32. Georgia (112ºF)
33. Michigan (112ºF)
34. West Virginia (112ºF)
35. Pennsylvania (111ºF)
36. Delaware (110ºF)
37. New Jersey (110ºF)
38. North Carolina (110ºF)
39. Virginia (110ºF)
40. Maryland (109ºF)
41. Florida (108ºF)
42. New York (108ºF)
43. Massachusetts (107ºF)
44. Connecticut (106ºF)
45. New Hampshire (106ºF)
46. Maine (105ºF)
47. Vermont (105ºF)
48. Rhode Island (104ºF)
49. Alaska (100ºF)
50. Hawaii (100ºF)

It shouldn’t be surprising that California has had the greatest record high since the state contains Death Valley, where the record occurred, but were you aware that the record high of North Dakota is higher than that of Texas?

States by Record Lows

1. Alaska (-80ºF)
2. Montana (-70ºF)
3. Utah (-69ºF)
4. Wyoming (-63ºF)
5. Colorado (-61ºF)
6. Idaho (-60ºF)
7. Minnesota (-60ºF)
8. North Dakota (-60ºF)
9. South Dakota (-58ºF)
10. Wisconsin (-55ºF)
11. Oregon (-54ºF)
12. New York (-52ºF)
13. Michigan (-51ºF)
14. Maine (-50ºF)
15. Nevada (-50ºF)
16. New Hampshire (-50ºF)
17. New Mexico (-50ºF)
18. Vermont (-50ºF)
19. Washington (-48ºF)
20. Iowa (-47ºF)
21. Nebraska (-47ºF)
22. California (-45ºF)
23. Pennsylvania (-42ºF)
24. Arizona (-40ºF)
25. Kansas (-40ºF)
26. Maryland (-40ºF)
27. Massachusetts (-40ºF)
28. Missouri (-40ºF)
29. Ohio (-39ºF)
30. Illinois (-38ºF)
31. Connecticut (-37ºF)
32. Kentucky (-37ºF)
33. West Virginia (-37ºF)
34. Indiana (-36ºF)
35. New Jersey (-34ºF)
36. North Carolina (-34ºF)
37. Tennessee (-32ºF)
38. Oklahoma (-31ºF)
39. Virginia (-30ºF)
40. Arkansas (-29ºF)
41. Rhode Island (-28ºF)
42. Alabama (-27ºF)
43. Texas (-23ºF)
44. South Carolina (-22ºF)
45. Mississippi (-19ºF)
46. Delaware (-17ºF)
47. Georgia (-17ºF)
48. Louisiana (-16ºF)
49. Florida (-2ºF)
50. Hawaii (15ºF)

When is comes to the state with the coldest weather, it is fairly easy to figure that Alaska is going to be the coldest, however, there are still some unexpected results when comparing the record lows of each state, for instance, why has Utah been significantly colder than Idaho, which is north of Utah? I don’t have the explanation to this mystery, but I assume it has something to do with altitude, which might explain why Montana’s record low is much lower than the surrounding states.

States by Difference in Extreme Temperatures

1. Montana (187ºF)
2. Utah (187ºF)
3. North Dakota (181ºF)
4. Alaska (180ºF)
5. California (179ºF)
6. Idaho (178ºF)
7. South Dakota (178ºF)
8. Wyoming (178ºF)
9. Colorado (176ºF)
10. Minnesota (175ºF)
11. Nevada (175ºF)
12. Oregon (172ºF)
13. New Mexico (172ºF)
14. Wisconsin (169ºF)
15. Arizona (168ºF)
16. Washington (168ºF)
17. Iowa (165ºF)
18. Nebraska (165ºF)
19. Michigan (163ºF)
20. Kansas (161ºF)
21. New York (160ºF)
22. Missouri (158ºF)
23. New Hampshire (156ºF)
24. Illinois (155ºF)
25. Maine (155ºF)
26. Vermont (155ºF)
27. Pennsylvania (153ºF)
28. Indiana (152ºF)
29. Ohio (152ºF)
30. Kentucky (151ºF)
31. Oklahoma (151ºF)
32. Arkansas (149ºF)
33. Maryland (149ºF)
34. West Virginia (149ºF)
35. Massachusetts (147ºF)
36. Tennessee (145ºF)
37. New Jersey (144ºF)
38. North Carolina (144ºF)
39. Connecticut (143ºF)
40. Texas (143ºF)
41. Virginia (140ºF)
42. Alabama (139ºF)
43. South Carolina (135ºF)
44. Mississippi (134ºF)
45. Rhode Island (132ºF)
46. Louisiana (130ºF)
47. Georgia (129ºF)
48. Delaware (127ºF)
49. Florida (111ºF)
50. Hawaii (83ºF)

We have Hawaii at the very bottom of this list; with an average temperature of 70 degrees and a difference no greater than 83 degrees, it would appear that Hawaii is the most temperate state, while the others can be rather volatile. It’s insane how the temperature differences of Montana and Utah are almost 200 degrees, which is almost closer to the temperature difference of Mars than that of Hawaii.

Which do you prefer, hotter or colder states?

Onward American 🇺🇸

Source: Average State Temperature

Source: States’ Extreme Temperatures