The Coldest Temperature Ever Recorded In Georgia

GEORGIA — As several states in the Midwest hunker down for historically low wind chills, that got us thinking — What was the coldest temperature ever recorded in Georgia? According to The Weather Channel, the coldest temperature was 17 degrees below zero. The coldest temperature ever was recorded Jan. 27, 1940, reported in the city of Chatsworth, in Murray County, Ga.

If that sounds cold, get this — the coldest temperature ever recorded in the country was in Alaska 48 years ago, when thermometers read 80 degrees below zero in Prospect Creek, near Fairbanks. The coldest temperature recorded in the continental U.S. was 70 degrees below zero at Rogers Pass, Montana, in 1954.

The following is the detailed forecast, according to the National Weather Service:

Wednesday
Sunny, with a high near 44. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Wednesday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 24. Northwest wind around 5 mph.

Thursday
Sunny, with a high near 48. North wind around 5 mph becoming west in the afternoon.

Thursday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 33. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming southeast after midnight.

Friday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 56. South wind around 5 mph.

Friday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 38.

Saturday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 57.

Saturday Night
A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 42.

Sunday
A 30 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 61.

Sunday Night
A 40 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 47.

Monday
A 50 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 64.

Monday Night
A 40 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 53.

Tuesday
A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 67.

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As you might expect, the coldest temperatures in the Southeast pale in comparison to the Mountain West and Great Plains. While Florida’s coldest temperature was a measly 2 degrees below zero, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, North Dakota and Minnesota have each seen temperatures fall to at least 60 degrees below zero.

No state will come close to breaking those records this week, but that’s not going to warm the hearts of people in the Midwest. Some Minnesotans this week will see wind chills as low as 62 degrees below zero in some places. The Twin Cities area woke up Tuesday with temperatures around 10 degrees below zero and wind chill readings estimated the temperatures felt more like a bone-chilling 32-below zero.

Subzero temperatures and similarly fierce wind chills are also expected in Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and Ohio as a breakdown in the polar vortex blasts arctic cold south, leaving many states feeling more like Antarctica this week — only colder. In fact, 75 percent of the continental U.S. is expected to see temperatures fall below freezing this week, CNN reported.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.
Photo credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images