Record-Setting Weather

TEMPERATURE EXTREMES, HIGHEST

Temperature extremes depend upon a number of factors, important among which are altitude, latitude, surface conditions, and the density and length of record of observing stations.

The world's highest temperatures, as well as the greatest range of extremes and the greatest and most rapid temperature fluctuations, occur over continental areas in the temperate zones.

A reading of 136°F, observed at Azizia (elevation about 380 ft, Tripolitania, Libya, North Africa) on September 13, 1922, is generally accepted as the world's highest temperature recorded under standard conditions.

The highest temperature ever observed in Canada was 115°F at Gleichen, Alberta on July 28, 1903. A high of 120°F or higher has been recorded on all the continents except Antarctica, where the high is only 58.3°F.

Greenland Ranch, California, with 134°F on July 10, 1913, holds the record for the highest temperature ever officially recorded in the United States. This station is located in barren Death Valley which is about 140 mi long and 4–16 mi wide and runs north and south in southeastern California and southwestern Nevada. The valley is below sea level and is flanked by towering mountain ranges with Mt. Whitney, the highest landmark in the 48 states, rising to 14,495 ft, less than 100 mi to the west. Death Valley has the hottest summers in the Western Hemisphere, and is the only known place in the United States where nighttime temperatures sometimes remain above 100°F.

The highest average annual temperature in the world, possibly a world record, is the 94°F, at Dalol (or Dallol), Ethiopia. The station is in a salt desert and is based on only 6 years of data, October 1960–November 1966. Lugh (or Luuq), Somalia, East Africa has an annual mean recorded temperature of 88°F. In the United States the station normally having the highest annual average is Key West, Florida, 77.8°F; the highest summer average, Death Valley, California, 98.2°F; and the highest winter average, Key West, Florida, 70.2°F.

Amazing temperature rises of 40–50°F in a few minutes occasionally may be brought about by chinook winds. Some outstanding extreme temperature rises in short periods are:

12 hours: 83°F, Granville, ND, Feb. 21, 1918, from–33°F to 50°F from early morning to late afternoon.

15 minutes: 42°F, Fort Assiniboine, MT, Jan. 19, 1892, from–5°F to 37°F.

7 minutes: 34°F, Kipp, MT, Dec. 1, 1896; observer also reported that a total rise of 80°F occurred in a few hours and that 30 in of snow disappeared in one-half day.

2 minutes: 49°F, Spearfish, SD, Jan. 22, 1943, from–4°F at 7:30 a.m., to 45°F at 7:32 a.m.

The range of temperature extremes over large bodies of water is much less than over land. Temperature extremes over the sea likely range from 100°F recorded by the SS Titan on August 8, 1920, in the Red Sea to–40°F observed by the SS Baychino, January 27, 1932, when beset by ice at latitude 70° 50′ N, longitude 159° 11′ W. Sea-surface temperatures in the Persian Gulf average as high as 88°F for July and August, and a high of 96°F was measured by the SS Frankenfels on August 5, 1924. These are among the highest—if not the highest—sea-surface temperatures ever observed. (Any official record of these over-the-sea temperatures has been lost over the years, so these measurements are not confirmed.)

Sunniest U.S. Cities

1. Yuma, AZ
2. Redding, CA
3. Phoenix, AZ; Tucson, AZ; Las Vegas, NV
4. El Paso, TX
5. Fresno, CA; Reno, NV

TEMPERATURE EXTREMES, LOWEST

Antarctica, a vast, elevated, snow-covered continent at the South Pole is one of the most favorable regions in the world for extremely low temperatures. Several stations there now have records dating back through 1957. A new world-record low temperature was observed at–128.6°F and was recorded at Vostok (Russian station) on July 21,1983. At the Amundsen-Scott station (elevation 9,186 ft), located on a snow plain within a few hundred yards of the geographical South Pole, the average annual temperature from 1957 to 1964 was–59°F. For July, the average maximum temperature was–69°F, the minimum–80°F; and for January, these values were–17°F and–22°F, respectively. The average temperature at Vostok for the two-year period 1958–59 was–67°F. Even colder locations may exist on the continent.

Other regions favorable for unusually low winter extremes include Greenland, a high snow-covered area located mostly in the north polar regions; and north central Siberia, part of a great land mass at high latitudes. Minima of–90°F (Verhoyansk–89.7°F, February 5 and 7, 1892 and Oimekon–89.9°F, February 6, 1933) in the latter region stood as the world's lowest temperatures prior to observations in Antarctica. The lowest temperature on the Greenland Icecap,–86.8°F was observed at Northice January 9,1954. Canada's lowest temperature,–81°F, was observed at Snag, Yukon Territory, near the border of Alaska at an altitude of 2,120 ft on February 3, 1947.

In the United States, the lowest temperature on record,–79.8°F, was recorded on January 23, 1971, at Prospect Creek Camp, which is located in the Endicott Mountains of Northern Alaska at latitude 66° 48′N, longitude 150° 40′W. The lowest temperature in the contiguous 48 states,–69.7°F, occurred on January 20, 1954, at Rogers Pass, in Lewis and Clark County, Montana. This location is in mountainous and heavily forested terrain, about 0.5 mi east of and 140 ft below the summit of the Continental Divide.

The lowest average annual temperature recorded in the United States is 9.4°F at Barrow, Alaska, which lies on the Arctic coast. Barrow also has the coolest summers (June, July, August) with an average of 41.9°F. The lowest average winter (December, January, February) temperature is–20.1°F at Barter Island on the Arctic coast of northeast Alaska. In Hawaii, average annual temperatures range from 44°F at Mauna Loa Slope Observatory (elevation 11,146 ft) on the island of Hawaii to 77.2°F at Honolulu on the island of Oahu.

In the contiguous 48 states, Mt. Washington, New Hampshire (elevation 6,262 ft) has the lowest mean annual temperature, 26.5°F, and the lowest mean summer (June, July, August) temperature, 51.6°F. A few stations in the Northeast and upper Rockies have mean annuals in the high 30s, and at the same stations in the latter area, summers may average in the high 40s. Winter (December, January, February) mean temperature are lowest in northeastern North Dakota where the average is 5.9°F at the Langdon Experiment Farm and northwestern Minnesota where the average is 6.1°F at Hallock.

In continental areas of the temperate zone, 40–50°F temperature falls in a few hours caused by advection of cold air masses are not uncommon. Sometimes, following these large drops due to advection, radiation may cause a further temperature fall resulting in remarkable changes. Some outstanding extreme temperature falls are:

24 hours: 100°F, Browning, MT, Jan. 23–24, 1916, from 44°F to–56°F.

12 hours: 84°F, Fairfield, MT, Dec. 24, 1924, from 63°F at noon to–21°F at midnight.

2 hours: 62°F, Rapid City, SD, Jan. 12, 1911, from 49°F at 6 a.m. to–13°F at 8 a.m.

27 minutes: 58°F, Spearfish, SD, Jan. 22, 1943, from 54°F at 9 a.m., to–4°F at 9:27 a.m.

Cloudiest U.S. Cities

1. Quillayute, WA
2. Astoria, OR
3. Olympia, WA
4. Seattle, WA
5. Portland, OR

15 minutes: 47°F, Rapid City, SD, Jan. 10, 1911, from 55°F at 7 a.m., to 8°F at 7:15 a.m.

(Courtesy of National Climatic Data Center/NOAA.)

(Courtesy of National Climatic Data Center/NOAA.)