See the most extreme temperatures in Oregon history
Christian Roberts-Olsen // Shutterstock
See the most extreme temperatures in Oregon history
On Aug. 16, 2020, California’s Death Valley reached 130 degrees Fahrenheit, according to an automated measuring system there, representing one of the highest temperatures ever recorded on the planet. The world record, also recorded at Death Valley, was 134 degrees in July 1913.
More than 210 degrees Fahrenheit separates the highest and the lowest temperatures on record in the United States, the third-largest country in the world. As some states are infamous for having blistering hot summers, others become inundated by winter storms and frigid cold. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that the summer of 2020 was the hottest on record in the Northern Hemisphere and the second-hottest summer globally.
Stacker consulted 2019 data from the NOAA’s State Climate Extremes Committee (SCEC) to create this slideshow illustrating the hottest and coldest temperatures ever recorded in each state. Each slide also reveals the all-time highest 24-hour precipitation record and all-time highest 24-hour snowfall.
Keep reading to find out your state’s record, or see the national list here.
Oregon by the numbers
– All-time highest temperature: 119° F (Pendleton Downtown on Aug. 10, 1898)
– All-time lowest temperature: -54° F (Seneca on Feb. 10, 1933)
– All-time highest 24-hour precipitation: 11.77 inches (Nehalem 9 NE on Nov. 6, 2006)
– All-time highest 24-hour snowfall: 47 inches (Hood River Experiment Station on Jan. 9, 1980)
Pendleton, a city in Umatilla County, recorded the hottest summer day in Oregon in 1898. In June 2019, Portland broke the record for the state’s hottest June ever recorded when the temperature soared to 97 degrees.
Continue below to see the most extreme temperatures in the history of other states in your region.
California by the numbers
– All-time highest temperature: 134° F (Greenland Ranch on July 10, 1913)
– All-time lowest temperature: -45° F (Boca on Jan. 20, 1937)
– All-time highest 24-hour precipitation: 25.83 inches (Hoegees Fc 60 A on Jan. 22–23, 1943)
– All-time highest 24-hour snowfall: 67 inches (Echo Summit Sierra at Tahoe on Jan. 5, 1982)
Death Valley’s Greenland Ranch holds the record for the highest temperature ever recorded at 134 in 1913. But On Jan. 20, 1937, Boca—a former reservoir located in Nevada County—recorded a mind-numbingly cold temperature of -45 degrees. In February 2019, news reports observed that June Mountain in the Sierra Nevada, located east of Yosemite National Park, reported 72 inches of snow in 24 hours.
Idaho by the numbers
– All-time highest temperature: 118° F (Orofino on July 28, 1934)
– All-time lowest temperature: -60° F (Island Park on Jan.18, 1943)
– All-time highest 24-hour precipitation: 7.17 inches (Rattlesnake Creek on Nov. 23, 1909)
– All-time highest 24-hour snowfall: 31 inches (Anderson Dam on Dec.18, 1967)
Rattlesnake Creek in Elmore County was recorded on Nov. 23, 1909, to have received the most rainfall of 7.17 inches in one day. In April 2019, several residents in the nearby community of Stites woke up to the sight of their homes and neighborhoods covered in more than a foot of water that had accumulated within an hour early in the morning.
