As in actually being outside. Here in Ohio I have been from -20 to 107 degrees F. The minus 20 was much harder to cope with. My Audi’s A/C could not cope with the +107 very well. It was a dark red car with black leather interior. Oddly enough they were within ten years of each other, 1978 and 1988.
Dennis
I was outside during a severe cold wave in the upper Midwest in January, 1985. Air temperature that morning in Madison, WI was -25F.
I also went out onto my back porch this morning here in suburban Chicago, when it was -23F.
The hottest temperature I’ve ever been outside for was in Phoenix, where it was 108F (but a dry heat :D). I was also outdoors during the heat wave here in Chicago in 1995, where we hit 106F (with high humidity).
My family drove through Death Valley one day during the summer, stopping at Death Valley Scotty’s Castle, but I was maybe 14 at the time and I don’t remember how hot it actually was. The car had air conditioning, and we just kept going except for that one stop. I spent a couple of winters in Chicago, but I don’t think it was particularly cold, maybe around 30 in the daytime.
Coldest:
-31F at the National Ice Core Laboratory in Denver, Colorado.
Hottest:
+115F on the Las Vegas Strip.
On a motorcycle.
In stop-and-go traffic.
On a sunny day.
In jeans, black boots, black gloves, dark-gray full-face helmet, and a black riding jacket.
I have to amend my post. My wife reminded me that we were in Las Vegas for several days in late July, and as we got out of the car, the thermometer read 111F.
We had a “cold day” in western New York when I was in elementary school and it was -25F. My mom let us play outside for a half hour or so because the wind was low at that moment.
Last May in Death Valley, my car’s thermometer read 110F.
115 in humid missouri
-25 today
-40 a few times, in northern New England, and Alberta. I’ve camped and skied at -30.
Hottest probably around 115, somewhere in the southwest US. I handle the cold much better than the hot.
111F at Furnace Creek in Death Valley
-8C (-14F) in the “Storm Room” at the International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch
I’ve lived a pretty mild temperature life. Highest was 108-109 F in Texas eight years ago. Lowest might be…a mere 20 F or something.
I, too, have been in Chi on record days (both hot and cold) and have been in Vegas and Phoenix when it was h.o.t!
But my biggest temp swing was in Colo. In early May of '88 or '89 I was riding my motorcycle from Chicago to Cedar City, UT. On day 3 I left Denver on a rainy spring morning with temps in the 50’s. By the time I got near Vail (a little over an hour into the trip), it was in the 20’s and a full blown blizzard. I had to pull into a gas station minimart for about an hour to let the snow subside and continued on. By the time I got to Glenwood Springs (about an hour past Vail) It was a bright sunny day in the lower 80’s. So in 120 miles and under 4 hrs of total travel time I experienced an almost entire year of weather!
That’s why I ride!
mc
Coldest I can remember was Northern Ohio around 1970; was -19F with a wind chill of -32F, and since there was no moddly-coddling of kids then (tongue firmly in cheek), Brother and I had to walk about 2 miles to High School. Don’t think I was ever that cold again.
Lived for 4 years in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where the highs would routinely reach 120F for days on end…and with the Arabian Sea just 6 miles away, we got humidity to go with it.
I remember leaving work one day, and saying to myself “Man, it’s hot today!”
That was the day that Phoenix broke it’s all-time high - 122.6°F
I’ve been skiing in windchill of -55°F. Actual temperatures were well below zero. Too damn cold, and we didn’t stay out long.
Coldest: -22 F (-30 C), a few times (including today in Chicago)
Hottest: 113 F (45 C) on vacation in Israel in 2015
Hottest in a place where I was actually living: probably 104 or 105 F (40 C), a few times
Lowest temperature: -27F, Waukesha, WI in January 1994
Highest temperature: 119F, Phoenix, AZ, July 2017
How about biggest swing in a single day? We moved from Wisconsin to Tucson in January 1994. -26F before dawn when I had to take the dog for a very short walk (we were in a hotel the night after our house was packed up). Flew to Tucson. High in Tucson that afternoon was 79F.
Low -45 C in Hay River NWT in November 1987
High 104 F in Bakersfield CA sometime in the 70’s. I wasn’t used to that and felt I was having an anxiety attack when I was out in the sun for about 30 seconds.
Lowest: -37C in Kirkenes, Norway Jan 2018.
Highest: well over 100F - probably 110+F - in Phoenix, Arizona in Aug 2017. I really didn’t realise how hot it was until I got to a bar and started chugging down glass after glass of water.
-4ºF, skiing at Lake Tahoe, 118ºF when I lived in the Mojave Desert.
Hottest: about 20 years ago, when I lived in San Jose, I remember one day hitting 109ºF. It’s possible I’ve experienced hotter in the Central Valley, and I don’t remember.
Coldest: I visited Anchorage eight years ago, during a cold snap. IIRC, it got down to -8ºF.
Growing up in Fairbanks Alaska, it would sometimes dip under 60 below. Yeah, they cancelled school then. I believe the cutoff for cancellation was usually 55 below.