This QC Was Just Ranked One Of America’s Coldest Cities
Baby, it's cold outside. But one of the Quad Cities is apparently chillier than the others, according to this list of the 50 coldest cities in the US by 24/7wallst.com. Moline came in at number 38, and surprisingly ranked colder than cities like Chicago and Milwaukee, which are both situated on Great Lakes.
The website compiled their list by looking at data from NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and used the normal low temperature of each city's coldest month. The normal low for Moline is around 14 degrees, with -28 being the coldest temp on record. Moline averages about 33 inches of snow per year, but I would guess that number is much lower this year, considering the mild winter we've had thus far (knock on wood).
In comparison, Chicago's normal low is around 16.5 degrees, and Milwaukee's is 15.6. Not much warmer than Moline, but I'm still surprised they didn't rank higher. Des Moines came in at number 26, with their normal low being 11.4 degrees. Nearby Midwestern cities Rockford, Illinois (my hometown) and Waterloo, Iowa also made the list.
Not surprisingly, Fairbanks, Alaska ranked as the coldest city in the United States, with an average temp of -16.9 during their coldest month. The lowest temperature on record for Fairbanks is a blistering -66. So the next time you think the Midwest is too cold, just be thankful you don't live in Alaska.
Check out the rest of the list here.