Minnesota Ranked No. 1 on List of Most Miserable Winters

On a day when the high temperature is in the single digits, you probably won't disagree with ranking Minnesota as No. 1 on a list of states ordered by how miserable their winters are. Yes, Minnesota even beat out Alaska.

A new list compiled by Thrillist has these states in its top five for worst winters. Oddly enough, Wisconsin doesn't even make the top five:

1. Minnesota
2. Michigan
3. Alaska
4. North Dakota
5. Maine

According to the list's compilers, here's why Minnesota earned the top spot:

1. Minnesota

To think of the generally cheerful brood of Nordic-bred people being the winners in any sort of a contest of misery seems downright crazy. But for all those adorable don'tcha knows, we think something else is going on. We think beneath that eternal Nordic happiness is some inner pain, trapped below the surface like a Grain Belt dropped into an ice fishing hole, a cauldron of hot anger ready to spill out like a cut-open Jucy Lucy.

How can you remain so upbeat when you get all the winter weather patterns? Alberta clippers? Sure. Panhandle hooks? You betcha! Parts of northern Minnesota see up to 170in of snow in a winter. One hundred seventy inches! That’s like two and a half times the height of Kent Hrbek!! It can get down to -60 degrees, a temperature at which frostbite can occur in fewer than five minutes. There are no chinook winds or moderating oceans to temper things outside of a small area by Lake Superior. Your sports teams never win championships. All of your good high school hockey players end up starring for NHL teams in other cities. Ice fishing can’t be that cool, really.

Read the entire list here.

Do you agree with the ranking? Let us know in the comments.

Image via Minnesota State Patrol