(STACKER) — On Aug. 16, 2020, California’s Death Valley reached 130 degrees Fahrenheit, according to an automated measuring system there, representing one of the highest temperatures ever recorded on the planet. The world record, also recorded at Death Valley, was 134 degrees in July 1913.
More than 210 degrees Fahrenheit separates the highest and the lowest temperatures on record in the United States, the third-largest country in the world. As some states are infamous for having blistering hot summers, others become inundated by winter storms and frigid cold. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that the summer of 2020 was the hottest on record in the Northern Hemisphere and the second-hottest summer globally.
Stacker consulted 2019 data from the NOAA’s State Climate Extremes Committee (SCEC) to create this slideshow illustrating the hottest and coldest temperatures ever recorded in each state. Each slide also reveals the all-time highest 24-hour precipitation record and all-time highest 24-hour snowfall.
Keep reading to find out your state’s record, or see the national list.
Indiana by the numbers
- All-time highest temperature: 116° F (Collegeville St Joseph County Airport on July 14, 1936)
- All-time lowest temperature: -36° F (New Whiteland on Jan. 19, 1994)
- All-time highest 24-hour precipitation: 10.5 inches (Princeton 1 W on Aug. 6, 1905)
- All-time highest 24-hour snowfall: 33 inches (Salem on Dec. 23, 2004)
On Aug. 6, 1905, Princeton, a city in Indiana’s Gibson County, recorded the highest one-day-long rainfall event in the state at 10.5 inches. More recently, in June 2019, severe storms in central and southern Indiana caused floods that left thousands of households powerless. Several roads also had to be closed after there were reports of cars being stuck in the floods.
Continue below to see the most extreme temperatures in the history of other states in your region.
Illinois by the numbers
- All-time highest temperature: 117° F (East St. Louis on July 14, 1954)
- All-time lowest temperature: -38° F (Mount Carroll on Jan. 31, 2019)
- All-time highest 24-hour precipitation: 16.91 inches (Aurora on July 18, 1996)
- All-time highest 24-hour snowfall: 36 inches (Astoria on Feb. 28, 1900)
East St. Louis recorded the state’s most sweltering temperature on July 14, 1954. While the residents of East St. Louis first woke up to stifling 100-degree heat; by late afternoon, the temperature soared to 117 degrees. Residents in St. Louis recalled July 14, 1954, as the day “they were just cooked.”
Michigan by the numbers
- All-time highest temperature: 112° F (Stanwood on July 13, 1936)
- All-time lowest temperature: -51° F (Vanderbilt 11ENE on Feb. 9, 1934)
- All-time highest 24-hour precipitation: 12.92 inches (6E Fountain on July 20, 2019)
- All-time highest 24-hour snowfall: 32 inches (Herman on Dec. 2, 1985)
In the years 2013 and 2014, Michigan faced heavy flooding after the Grand Rapids River overflowed. In 2019 after almost two weeks of heavy rainfall, most homes in the Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood were underwater.
