For Nearly 70 Years Montana Held This Record, Until Now

Sometimes records are impossible to break, and this record stood for nearly seventy years.

Montanans are used to cold temperatures in the winter, and we are usually prepared for the conditions. Many folks don't know, but Rogers Pass in Montana held the coldest temperature ever recorded in the continental United States at -70! This bone-chilling temperature happened back in 1954 and has stood for nearly seventy years.

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So there's no way this temperature will ever be broken, right?

Never say never, because that record now belongs to another after the recent cold snap across the country. Over the past few days, the Northeast has been slammed by snow and Artic wind.

Mount Washington in New Hampshire will now hold the coldest temperature in the continental United States at the eye-popping -108 Fahrenheit. Not only was that temperature reached, but some winds hit over 120 miles per hour.

Typically the coldest temperatures are found in high altitudes, and Mount Washington's peak is slightly above 6,500 feet. This temperature was a combination of perfect conditions with wind chill and snow.

Montanans have seen temperatures, over the past few years drop to -50 or -60 Fahrenheit, but nothing has ever reached the record. Those are the days when your car won't start, you can't seem to get warm, and it hurts to breathe. Those Montana winter days are brutal.

It's sad to see a record that Montana has held for so many years gone. The only temperature record Montana still has is the biggest temperature swing in one day. Fairfield saw a drop of 84 degrees in one day, and Kipp saw a rise of 80 degrees within 15 hours.

Those records will probably never be beaten in the United States. So at least we have those records to hold onto.