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I am working on compiling a list of the record high and low temperatures for each state capital (or, for the smaller capitals, the nearest large city). I will also be listing the temperature differences between the highs and lows so we can see which major city has the most fluctuating temperatures. It should be pretty interesting!
If there are any other cities people want me to include in addition to the capitals, please let me know by tomorrow (02/07/08) so I can include.
Okay, here is the list of all of the state capitals (as well as a few other cities for fun) and their respective record highs and lows. Be forewarned, this is a long post. I used the corresponding NWS forecast offices for most of the data. I used other weather websites to obtain the data for the cities that don't have the information on the NWS web page, therefore, some of the cities don't have a specific date (only a month or a year).
I will lay the information out as shown below. All values are the most recent occurence, as some of these record highs have been established more than one time.
City, State Rec High (Date) / Rec Low (Date) / Temp Difference
Montgomery, AL 107º (1881) / 0º (01/21/1985) / 107º
Juneau, AK 89º (07/29/1920) / -17º (01/09/1998) / 106º
Anchorage, AK 86º (06/25/1953) / -38º (02/03/1947) / 124º
Barrow, AK 79º (07/13/1993) / -56º (02/03/1924) / 135º
Fairbanks, AK 99º (07/28/1919) / -66º (01/14/1934) / 165º
Phoenix, AZ 122º (06/26/1990) / 16º (01/07/1913) / 106º
Tucson, AZ 117º (06/26/1990) / 6º (01/07/1913) / 111º
Little Rock, AR 112º (07/1986) / -5º (02/1951) / 117º
Sacramento, CA 114º (07/17/1925) / 17º (12/11/1932) / 97º
Denver, CO 105º (07/20/2005) / -29º (01/09/1875) / 134º
What I thought was interesting about gathering all this date is that, outside of Honolulu, Sacramento had the lowest temperature difference of all state capitals (as far as all cities in the U.S., obviously not). The difference in Sacramento between the highest and lowest ever recorded temperatures was less than 100º.
I was also surprised to see that many midwestern and eastern cities had very similar variances to some of the western cities.
As far as the highest difference when comparing each state capital, the winner is Bismarck, ND with 159º separating the lowest temperature and the highest temperature. Following Bismarck is Pierre, SD with 157º difference and Lincoln, NE with 148º.
Of all the cities I listed, Fairbanks wins with 165º difference, which is really no surprise. Areas of interior Alaska are notorious for their temperature spreads.
Again, as stated above, I am not necessarily stating that all of my figures are correct as we all know that there is varying data found all over the internet. These are the numbers I found, the majority from NWS websites.
Interesting how most of the record lows are from the 1800s/early 1900s. Denver (where I live) las many record lows in the winter in the -20s, but the coldest I've experienced in the last 4 winters is -9. So far this winter at my house, 3 is the coldest recorded temp. I'm certainly not complaining about that!
Interesting how most of the record lows are from the 1800s/early 1900s. Denver (where I live) las many record lows in the winter in the -20s, but the coldest I've experienced in the last 4 winters is -9. So far this winter at my house, 3 is the coldest recorded temp. I'm certainly not complaining about that!
We had a mini ice age from about 1550 to about 1850 or even closer to the 1900s. I've read that most of it affected Europe, but it's my understanding that it was pretty chilly in the U.S. during that period, too. Then we started gradually warming up to where we were before. Then the 1970s hit and we had quite a cold spell. In fact, many predicted that we were heading back to the ice age.
So basically it seems like we've always had fluctuations in our weather. It's not a new phenomena.
Interesting at Bismarck as highest and lowest both in same year 1936...
For the state of ND...highest in state ever was 121 in 1936 and lowest -60 in 1936 too! Interesting year!!!
Dan
I thought South Dakota had high temperatures in the 120s during the summer either last year or the year before that? I think it was in the west-central part of the state around Faith or Pierre.
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