Cold and Warm Spots in U.S. With and Without Alaska

A few months ago we blogged about the stations in Alaska that recorded the lowest temperature in the state most frequently in 2013 (see post HERE). Since we now have data for primary stations across the Lower 48, I thought it would be interesting to see how often Alaska had the daily high or low when looking at the entire U.S. during 2013.

This analysis is slightly different that the January analysis in that only primary stations are evaluated; i.e., no Cooperative, SNOTEL, RAWS, or Mesonet stations. The volume of data would overwhelm my computer to assess all of that data.

Figures 1 and 2 show the count of the number of days a primary station (n=1025) recorded the lowest high temperature in the U.S. with and without Alaska respectively. If a tie occurs, each station receives a tally. Each small gray dot represents a station used in the analysis. When Alaska is included, here is the top 5 list of stations:

1) Barrow 4 ENE, AK (116)
2) Nuiqsut AP, AK (99)
3) Deadhorse AP, AK (46)
4) Mt. Washington, NH (17)
5) Barrow Post Rogers AP, AK (15)

When Alaska is excluded, here is the top 5 list of stations:

1) Mt. Washington, NH (147)
2) Beaver 15 E, UT (27)
3) Boulder 14 W, CO (27)
4) Northgate 5 ESE, ND (22)
5) Mauna LOA 5 NNE, HI (20)

Figure 1. Count of times a station recorded (or tied) for the lowest high temperature in the U.S. (Alaska included).

Figure 2. Count of times a station recorded (or tied) for the lowest high temperature in the U.S. (Alaska excluded).

Of course Alaska frequently records the lowest minimum temperature in the country on most days of the year. The next two maps show how the count of daily low temperatures across the country look when Alaska is included (Figure 3) and excluded (Figure 4).

Figure 3. Count of times a station recorded (or tied) for the lowest low temperature in the U.S. (Alaska included).

Figure 4. Count of times a station recorded (or tied) for the lowest low temperature in the U.S. (Alaska excluded).

When Alaska is included, here is the top 5 list of stations:

1) Nuiqsut AP, AK (60)
2) Barrow 4 ENE, AK (42)
3) Deadhorse AP, AK (37)
4) Eagle AP, AK (33)
5) Stanley RS, ID (32)

When Alaska is excluded, here is the top 5 list of stations:

1) Stanley RS, ID (60)
1) Mt. Washington, NH (42)
3) Provo 22 E, UT (35)
4) Yellowstone Lake, WY (28)
5) International Falls, MN (19)

Not surprisingly, Alaska did not record a single occurrence of having the warmest high temperature or the warmest low temperature in the U.S. in 2013. Figure 5 shows the number of days that a station recorded the highest maximum temperature in the nation and Figure 6 shows the number of days that a station recorded the highest minimum temperature in the nation.

Figure 5. Count of times a station recorded (or tied) for the highest maximum temperature in the U.S. (Alaska included).

Figure 6. Count of times a station recorded (or tied) for the highest minimum temperature in the U.S. (Alaska included).