Dear Tom,
The record high for Milwaukee is 105 degrees, and the record low is minus 26 degrees, a variance of 131 degrees. What U.S. city has the record for largest variance between record high and record low temperatures?
— Doug Evans, Milwaukee
Dear Doug,
Very similar to Milwaukee, Chicago’s all-time high and low temperatures are 105 degrees and 27 degrees below zero, a spread of 132 degrees.
The honors for the largest difference in the United States goes to Fort Yukon, Alaska, with an all-time high of 100 and low of minus 78, generating a spread of 178 degrees.
In contrast, Honolulu stands at the other end of the temperature-range scale. Its highest and lowest temperatures are 95 and 52 degrees, a range of just 43 degrees, the result of the tempering effects of the surrounding ocean and a very small seasonal variation in energy received from the sun.
