# What are the lowest and highest temperatures you have experienced? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 30, 2019, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lowest-and-highest-temperatures-you-have-experienced/828680 "2019-01-30T17:25:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lowest-and-highest-temperatures-you-have-experienced/828680/61 "2019-01-31T04:06:41Z")
I went on a backpacking trip on the Havasupai Indian Reservation in Arizona. the day we hiked out, I’m not sure what the temperature was there in the canyon, but the radio reported it was 124 degrees that day in Phoenix. The highest temperature I can say with certainty was 113, here in Sacramento one summer when I was a kid (though the neighbor’s backyard thermometer said 116). The lowest was probably somewhere around 10-15 degrees, up at Lake Tahoe during a winter stay. ---
**Author:** ![Littleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ccd318/32.png) [@Littleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Littleman)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lowest-and-highest-temperatures-you-have-experienced/828680/62 "2019-01-31T04:15:40Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > 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 Something like -24 In the muskingum valley in 2013 I think. 148 putting in radiant barrier in an attic in Florida in July or August. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lowest-and-highest-temperatures-you-have-experienced/828680/63 "2019-01-31T05:43:01Z")
I’m in Hawaii and we’re experiencing a cold snap right now, going to be 64 degrees where I live and might hit the mid 50’s in the mountains! :eek: Yeah I’m a wimp! 😃 When I talk to people in the mainland and they ask about the weather, I say “Oh 80 degrees, plus or minus 10.” 😛 Yeah, I can be jerk sometimes! 😃 Been here all my life and the worst I’ve been in is ~8-10 degrees in Vegas around New Years and 110 there in April. The weather reports from the time say otherwise, but I swear I saw the thermometer outside our room on the Strip say 4 or 6 degrees early in the morning once. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lowest-and-highest-temperatures-you-have-experienced/828680/64 "2019-01-31T06:00:17Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > I went on a backpacking trip on the Havasupai Indian Reservation in Arizona. Good for you! One of my favorite places on the planet! (That I’ll prolly never be able to visit again; thank Og I spent as much time down there as I did when I could.) ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lowest-and-highest-temperatures-you-have-experienced/828680/65 "2019-01-31T06:16:55Z")
-50 F. in northern Montana. That was without windchill, but no wind, so a moot point. Coldest windchill -60, northern Wyoming, 2003 or 2004. Actual temp was -6 F. Hottest, 109 F., also in northern Montana. No country for wimps. (Like me.) ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lowest-and-highest-temperatures-you-have-experienced/828680/66 "2019-01-31T11:17:36Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > 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 was living there as well when the record was set. IIRC, it reached 122 two days in a row, didn’t it? I still have a T-shirt proclaiming my survival of that event. As for lows, maybe 5 or 10 below zero (F) when I worked on N Sea oil rigs. I don’t know the exact number though. Question for those who’ve experienced extreme cold: Can you tell the difference between -30 and -50 when you go outside? ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lowest-and-highest-temperatures-you-have-experienced/828680/67 "2019-01-31T12:40:30Z")
I grew up in Utah, and the hottest there would be around 108 F. In Las Vegas, about 114 F. Both of those are deserts. The hottest I’ve experienced in Taiwan is 39.5 C. Not as hot, but higher humidity. The lowest was skiing in subzero weather. One often women in our group was starting to get frostbite and we stopped. The cost I’ve ever had in Taiwan is 5 C. People starting writing out their wills at that point. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lowest-and-highest-temperatures-you-have-experienced/828680/68 "2019-01-31T12:51:55Z")
The lowest was skiing in subzero weather. One \*\* woman in our group was starting to get frostbite and we stopped. The _coldest_ I’ve ever _experienced_ in Taiwan is 5 C. People starting writing out their wills at that point. Damn autocorrect ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lowest-and-highest-temperatures-you-have-experienced/828680/69 "2019-01-31T13:08:44Z")
My personal record low was -27F for many years (set in Davenport, Iowa, winter of '77-78). Finally topped it at -28F in South Dakota. Never experienced any amazing record heat (probable high was around 107F south of Houston, and then of course it’s not the heat but the humidity. :smack:) ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lowest-and-highest-temperatures-you-have-experienced/828680/70 "2019-01-31T16:07:12Z")
About -20 at the 8000 foot level of Mt. Rainier in March. It was a overnight camping trip for senior Boy Scouts, it was part of the process to get an Eagle badge. The hottest was last June in Phoenix, 113 standing outside of the Peoria Sports Complex, the spring training location for the Seattle Mariners. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lowest-and-highest-temperatures-you-have-experienced/828680/71 "2019-01-31T16:42:23Z")
Leaving windchill factor out of the equation probably -22 back in 1994 and I had to be outside in it for quite a while. Hottest was maybe 104 if memory serves me correct about just where I was on a particular day. If you count windchill the coldest was -31-32 (2 degrees at 70mph ---- and it broke the engine seals in my Harley). There have been days below zero like yesterday that probably hit a higher low 😉 but my exposure was for minutes and not hours. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lowest-and-highest-temperatures-you-have-experienced/828680/72 "2019-01-31T16:52:51Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > The hottest temperature I’ve ever been outside for was in Phoenix, where it was 108F (but a dry heat :D). That’s like saying “I had the heaves, but at least they were the dry heaves.” ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lowest-and-highest-temperatures-you-have-experienced/828680/73 "2019-01-31T16:55:12Z")
6 degrees, with a windchill of -6, during a February in Chicago (2012). 115 degrees at multiple times during summer trips to Las Vegas. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lowest-and-highest-temperatures-you-have-experienced/828680/74 "2019-01-31T18:03:12Z")
The lowest I’ve ever been in was last winter here in CT when we had multiple nights of negative single digits. I wore my freezer suit for the drive home several times. It got pretty hot when I lived in Singapore, but the place is literally 1 degree north of the equator, so everything is done with the heat and humidity in mind. Also I was a kid, so it was easy for me to adapt. The hottest was when I took a trip to Vegas a few years ago. In June. It was damn near 110F at the hottest. Thank Og for the fact that you walk most of the strip inside the casinos. And for frozen alcoholic beverages. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lowest-and-highest-temperatures-you-have-experienced/828680/75 "2019-01-31T18:10:59Z")
I experienced 120 degree heat in the San Fernando Valley in the mid 1980s. The Valley gets hot, but THAT was unusual heat. I experienced -25 degrees in Dayton Ohio…and I will never, ever go back there. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lowest-and-highest-temperatures-you-have-experienced/828680/76 "2019-01-31T19:05:36Z")
I think that I’ve told this before, but here goes again. I was living in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, heading back to Minnesota for Christmas time. I left Ft. Lauderdale at 85 F, landed in Minneapolis at -25 F. A nice swing of 110 F over the four or five hour flight. I’ve seen both colder and hotter, but not on the same day. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lowest-and-highest-temperatures-you-have-experienced/828680/77 "2019-01-31T20:23:22Z")
I was a student at Purdue in the late 70s. The closed the university for -80 windchill, tho I don’t recall the actual temperature. I’d driven in and was about to park when I heard the closure announcement on the radio… grrrrrrrr. Anyway, it was pretty far below zero, and I believe we went about a month staying below zero. As for the hottest - maybe 105?? ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lowest-and-highest-temperatures-you-have-experienced/828680/78 "2019-01-31T21:06:37Z")
115F for three days in a row in Las Vegas at some time in the 1990s. -40F in Lopez, PA at some time in the early 1960s (I think). Lopez is a small mountain village NE of Scranton / Wilkes Barre and is known as “The Icebox of Pennsylvania”. It occasionally replaces International Falls, Minnesota as the coldest spot in the USA on the national weather maps. I have relatives there and used to visit frequently when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lowest-and-highest-temperatures-you-have-experienced/828680/79 "2019-01-31T21:19:36Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Thing is, the hundred teens in Phoenix was better than mid-90s here in Chicago when it gets humid. The absolute most uncomfortable hot weather I experienced was New Orleans in June, 1998. I don’t think it was much hotter than the mid 90s, but it was absolutely ridiculous with the humidity. I would be standing still and sweat would be just rolling off of me. Looking at the historical temps, looks like it would have been around 90-95F with dew points in the high 70s. I’ll take Phoenix at 115 over that. > > I used to laugh at the “but it’s a dry heat” folks until I actually experienced a true dry heat like in Phoenix. It really does make a huge difference to me, who is a profuse sweater. It’s the difference between a sauna and a steamroom. In a sauna, I’m fine with temps well into the 180s. In a steamroom, the hundred teens is scorching. Yep. If you can get into the shade, 110 isnt horrible in a dry heat, while 100 or even 90 in Disney World with high humidity is draining. Me- 113 F (45 C) and like 20 is my coldest. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lowest-and-highest-temperatures-you-have-experienced/828680/80 "2019-01-31T22:23:11Z")
Not me, but I have a friend who lives nearby in Hilo. He has visited Honolulu, but has never left the Islands. The lowest temperature he has experienced was 58 F a few years ago and the highest was 93 F also a few years ago. During Winter mornings here on the Big Island, temperatures sometimes drop into the low 60’s and one sees lots of people in long sleeve sweat suits complaining about the “cold”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lowest-and-highest-temperatures-you-have-experienced/828680.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lowest-and-highest-temperatures-you-have-experienced/828680.md?page=5)