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Extreme Climates in the U.S.

  • Hottest/Coldest
  • Driest/Wettest
  • Windiest/Snowiest
  • Sunniest/Cloudiest
  • Most Humid/Least Humid
  • Most Frequent Rain and Snow/Least Frequent Rain and Snow
    • December Station or State Monthly Records
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    The United States is a large and diverse land mass with widely varying climate conditions. Local climates are affected by factors that include topography, elevation, proximity to oceans, lakes, and rivers, and latitude. The unique climate conditions of different areas of the country are reflected in the following top 10 lists. These lists are based on data from the nation's major observing stations in all 48 states and reflect 30-year averages of temperature, wind, snowfall, rainfall, and humidity. These tables last updated on January 16, 2008.

    This is the Top of the Page Icon Hottest/Coldest

    Station Name Mean Temp °F Station Name Mean Temp °F
    Key West, FL 78.1°F Mount Washington, NH 27.2°F
    Miami, FL 76.7°F International Falls, MN 37.4°F
    Yuma, AZ 75.3°F Marquette, MI 38.7°F
    West Palm Beach, FL 75.3°F Duluth, MN 39.1°F
    Fort Wayne, FL 74.9°F Caribou, ME 39.2°F
    Phoenix, AZ 74.2°F Sault Ste. Marie, MI 40.1°F
    Brownsville, TX 73.3°F Grand Forks, ND 40.3°F
    Vero Beach, FL 73.2°F Alamosa, CO 40.8°F
    Tampa, FL 73.1°F Williston, ND 40.9°F
    Orlando, FL 72.8°F Fargo, ND 41.5°F

    This is the Top of the Page Icon Driest/Wettest

    Station Name Precip in Inches Station Name Precip in Inches
    Yuma, AZ 3.01 Mount Washington, NH 101.91
    Las Vegas, NV 4.49 Quillayute, WA 101.72
    Bishop, CA 5.02 Astoria, OR 67.13
    Bakersfield, CA 6.49 Mobile, AL 66.29
    Alamosa, CO 7.25 Pensacola, FL 64.28
    Reno, NV 7.48 New Orleans, LA 64.16
    Winslow, AZ 8.03 Tallahassee, FL 63.21
    Yakima, WA 8.26 Baton Rouge, LA 63.08
    Phoenix, AZ 8.29 West Palm Beach, FL 61.39
    Winnemucca, NV 8.33 Port Arthur, TX 59.89

    This is the Top of the Page Icon Windiest/Snowiest

    Station Name Mean Wind Speed (mph) Station Name Snowfall in Inches
    Mount Washington, NH 35.1 Mount Washington, NH 260.6
    Blue Hill, MA 15.2 Blue Cayon, CA 240.3
    Dodge City, KS 13.9 Marquette, MI 144.1
    Amarillo, TX 13.5 Syracuse, NY 118.1
    Cheyenne, WY 12.9 Sault Ste. Marie, MI 117.4
    Rochester, MN 12.8 Caribou, ME 112.3
    Casper, WY 12.7 Mount Shasta, CA 104.9
    Goodland, KS 12.5 Flagstaff, AZ 100.6
    Great Falls, MT 12.5 Lander, WY 100.1
    Boston, MA 12.4 Sexton Summit, OR 97.8

    This is the Top of the Page Icon Sunniest/Cloudiest

    Station Name % of Possible Sunshine Station Name # of Cloudy Days
    Yuma, AZ 90 Mount Washington, NH 244
    Redding, CA 88 Astoria, OR 239
    Tucson, AZ 85 Quillayute, WA 239
    Phoenix, AZ 85 Olympia, WA 228
    Las Vegas, NV 85 Seattle Sea-Tac AP, WA 226
    El Paso, TX 84 Portland, OR 222
    Reno, NV 79 Kalispell, MT 214
    Fresno, CA 79 Binghamton, NY 212
    Flagstaff, AZ 78 Elkins, WV 212
    Sacramento, CA 78 Beckley, WV 210

    This is the Top of the Page Icon Most Humid/Least Himid

    Station Name % of Relative Humidity Station Name % of Relative Humidity
    Quillayute, WA 83.5 Yuma, AZ 22.5
    Mount Washington, NH 83.0 Las Vegas, NV 30.0
    Astoria, OR 81.0 Phoenix, AZ 36.0
    Port Arthur, TX 80.0 Tucson, AZ 38.5
    Lake Charles, LA 79.5 Bishop, CA 38.5
    Corpus Christi, TX 78.5 El Paso, TX 41.5
    Victoria, TX 78.5 Albuquerque, NM 43.5
    Brownsville, TX 78.0 Winslow, AZ 44.5
    Houston, TX 78.0 Mount Shasta, CA 47.0
    Olympia, WA 78.0 Grand Junction, CO 48.5

    This is the Top of the Page Icon Most Frequent Rain and Snow/Least Frequent Rain and Snow

    Station Name # of Days with Precip Station Name # of Days with Precip
    Mount Washington, NH 204 Yuma, AZ 16
    Quillayute, WA 202 Las Vegas, NV 20
    Astoria, OR 188 Bishop, CA 22
    Syracuse, NY 166 Phoenix, AZ 28
    Elkins, WV 164 Santa Barbara, CA 30
    Buffalo, NY 162 Long Beach, CA 33
    Sault Ste. Marie, MI 160 Los Angeles AP, CA 33
    Marquette, MI 159 Los Angeles C.O., CA 34
    Erie, PA 156 Bakersfield, CA 35
    Olympia, WA 156 San Diego, CA 38

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    Climate Monitoring / December / Global Hazards / Extremes Cities / Help