>108 deg F - I worked a 14 hour day pouring concrete on sandy “soil” in Nebraska. On average, we drank 4 gallons of water that day. It was insane but we got time and a half and free food and drink all day. I can find the record high at the nearby airport still stands for that date at 108 but it was so much hotter than that. Literally anything metal was ready to scald you.
But my claim to fame is -95deg F for 5 minutes… in a -80degC freezer. It was empty and I was young and it was a dare. Breathing burned like hell. But to be fair, I most likely significantly heated the air in such an enclosed space. So in fairness, it would be -25F under traditional methods- but I actually had a coat and a hat so that is cheating.
I know I was out at night when it was -27F here in Chicago back on Jan 20, 1985, but I can’t tell you if I was out when it hit the low or not. Also pretty sure I was out when it was around -20F on Christmas Eve 1983, and back on Jan 18, 1994, there were temps of -21F in the morning. That was my freshman year of college, and I’m almost certain classes were not cancelled, believe it or not. Today I was out for a couple of minutes in a tee shirt and pajama pants blowing bubbles at -21F. So somewhere in the neg 20s, with windchills in the neg 50s or so.
Hottest? That must have been Phoenix a few years back in the summer of 2013. I don’t remember the exact temperature but it was in the hundred teens.
I couldn’t tell you exactly. It got up to about 110F when I was living in Salt Lake City. and, yes, it’s like the cliché goes it’s a dry heat*.
I know I’ve been to sub-zero territory, but couldn’t tell you how far down. At least -10, when I was living in upstate New York.
*TMI warning – I much prefer it to humid heat, since I sweat something awful, especially my crotch, so when the mercury goes up my underwear basically turns into wet sandpaper. so I really do prefer the dry heat.
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.
I was seeing a girl fromNew Orleans. She came out for a visit, and we drove up to Lancaster, CA (Antelope Valley/Mojave Desert). As we drove in my un-air conditioned car, she asked me how hot it was. I told her it was about 104ºF or 105ºF. She couldn’t believe it. She said it felt like it was only in the 90s.
Not sure about the coldest, but I lived a long time in Michigan, so I’m guessing pretty cold. Hottest was 123°, at where else but Furnace Creek. We’re those weird people that like to go hiking at noon, in the summer, in Death Valley. Less crowded! Makes you appreciate cold beer at a new level.
ETA: I think I have the record so far! If there’s any prize money involved, I have a pic to prove it.
I live in southwestern Oregon, and have been outside in daytime temps in the 107-108f range in late August. It’s a pretty humid heat too, although nothing like the south.
A few years ago I went winter camping on the western edge of Crater Lake NP. Mid-December, sleeping in an old U.S. Army surplus sleeping bag in a pup tent on the ground, the temp fell to -6f that night.
Never, ever again.
Now, when I was in second grade my family lived for ~9 months over the winter in northern Montana. I’m sure the temp fell below -6f that year but I don’t actually remember it.
Highest- 111F, Sep 4, 2000 in Dallas. What was so bad is that the high temps for the entire summer that year (June through August0 had averaged upwards of 101 degrees.
And it’s not all that dry either.
Lowest- 14F - January 2009.
I’ll estimate that today was the coldest day I’ve experienced at -20 F here in Chicago and the warmest was 120 F in Phoenix where I lived from 2008-2012.
Chicago winters suck, but at least Chicago is a city. Phoenix is a giant suburb in search of a city, it’s like Las Vegas without the gambling or Los Angeles without beaches.
The most miserable weather I’ve experienced was in Tallahassee, Florida where it was the upper 90s with extremely high humidity, I’d be sweating within 5 minutes of walking out the door.
I was born and raised in Southern California. Sometimes I think about when one night in L.A. when it was in the 40s and I was freezing. My g/f caught pneumonia. Up here, that’s T-shirt weather!
Not sure about the hottest. Probably about 105 when I was growing up in Philly–and we had no air conditioning in those days (1940s and 50s). I know I was out in -20F in Chicago about a week before my daughter was born, which was Feb. 4, 1966. I have been out in the similar -30C in Montreal.
Incidentally the coldest and hottest days ever recorded in Montreal were about 6 months apart: -38C in the winter of 75/76 and +37C in the summer of 76. Although I might have them reversed. But I wasn’t there for either of them, being on sabbatical that whole year.
My coldest was in Fairbanks in 1965 or '66, when I was attending the University of Alaska. It hit -62F with NO wind chill. Ice fog hung down to the ground, and even a short walk caused your breath to crystallize on eyelashes and eyebrows. I frostbit both ears by going out without ear covering. At those temperatures, oil freezes and gasoline turns to jelly, so nothing moves.
Hottest? Probably when I lived in Mali. It would get up to about 45C or so.
