Dear Tom,
What are the North American temperature extremes?
Alex Linden
Dear Alex,
With its vast geographical expanse from the arctic regions near the North Pole to the southwestern deserts of the United States and the jungles of Central America, North America has experienced a huge 221-degree range of temperature extremes.
The continent’s highest temperature of 134(degrees) was established nearly a century ago at the Greenland Ranch in Death Valley, Calif., on July 10, 1913. This reading is the world’s second hottest, surpassed only by a 136(degrees) high at El Azizia, Libya on Sept. 13, 1922. On the cold side of the ledger, the continent’s lowest reading, a frigid -87(degrees), was recorded at Northice, Greenland, on Jan. 9, 1954. Globally, the range of temperature extremes stands at 265 degrees from Libya’s 136(degrees) high to the -129(degrees) low at Vostok, Antarctica on July 21, 1983.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
