The Coldest Temperature Ever Recorded In Pennsylvania

As several states in the Midwest hunker down for historically low wind chills, that got us thinking — what was the coldest temperature ever recorded here in Pennsylvania?

According to The Weather Channel, the coldest temperature ever recorded in the Keystone State was 42 degrees below zero. Though the report did not give a date, St. Louis Today reported it happened in Smethport, McKean County on Jan. 5, 1904.

If that sounds cold, get this — the coldest temperature ever recorded in the country was in Alaska 48 years ago, when thermometers read 80 degrees below zero in Prospect Creek, near Fairbanks.

The coldest temperature recorded in the continental U.S. was 70 degrees below zero at Rogers Pass, Montana, in 1954.

We won't be getting quite that cold this week, but you can prepare to bundle up.

On Wednesday night, temperatures are expected to dip to the single digits, with wind chill values as low as 4 below zero. The bitter cold will linger Thursday, when a high of 15 is predicted. More single digit temperatures are predicted overnight Thursday.

RELATED: Updated Snow Estimates, Winter Storm Timing For Eastern PA

As you might expect, the coldest temperatures ever recorded in the Southeast pale in comparison to the Mountain West and Great Plains. While Florida’s coldest temperature was a measly 2 degrees below zero, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, North Dakota and Minnesota have each seen temperatures fall to at least 60 degrees below zero.

No state will come close to breaking those records this week, but that’s not going to warm the hearts of people in the Midwest. Some Minnesotans this week will see wind chills as low as 62 degrees below zero in some places. The Twin Cities area woke up Tuesday with temperatures around 10 degrees below zero and wind chill readings estimated the temperatures felt more like a bone-chilling 32-below zero.

Subzero temperatures and similarly fierce wind chills are also expected in Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and Ohio as a breakdown in the polar vortex blasts arctic cold south, leaving many states feeling more like Antarctica this week — only colder.

In fact, 75 percent of the continental U.S. is expected to see temperatures fall below freezing this week, CNN reported.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

Photo by Kara Seymour, Patch