Did You Know the Coldest Spot In America is Located Here in Idaho?
With frigid temperatures and cold weather headed our way this winter, I thought it might be interesting to share the fact that Idaho is home to the coldest town in the entire U.S.
On any winter day, this one Idaho town is most often the coldest place in the lower 48 states... but, even as cold as it is, it doesn't hold the record for coldest place in Idaho…
Over a ten year period Stanley, Idaho has recorded the lowest temperature more days out of those ten years than any other area in the contiguous US with 398 total days of the coldest recorded temperatures. West Yellowstone, Montana was 2nd ......Gunnison, Colorado was 3rd followed by Truckee Californian and Alamosa, Colorado rounding out the top five.
Get this....On average Stanley experiences 270 days a year below freezing....keep in mind there are only 365 days a year. All I can say is, that it's a good thing that the Stanley area is one of the most beautiful in Idaho or nobody would ever visit that place...but it is amazingly beautiful even in winter.
Only 63 people live in Stanley, but one of those people, is famous 4 time Grammy winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Carol King.
As cold as Stanley is, the coldest day on record didn't happen in Stanley....heck the 2nd coldest day on record in Idaho didn't happen in Stanley either.
The coldest day ever recorded happened at Island Park Dam...and that record low temperature was (drum roll please) 60 degrees below zero. brrrrrrrrr
The second coldest day on record happened in 1933 in Tetonia, Idaho.....57 degrees below zero.
So even though Stanley is the coldest place in America, it's still not the coldest place in Idaho....
If you're curious, the coldest temperature ever recorded in the lower 48 was 70 below zero and it happened in Montana at Rogers Pass in January of 1954.
The video below shows what the 63 residents of Stanley do to get ready for winter.....