Winter can seem to drag on with repetitive gray days and cold temperatures, especially around late January and early February.
Some people are encouraged through this time to know how many days are left of "official" winter, but most folks understand that weather does not abide by a date on a calendar.
It may be encouraging to know, however, when the coldest temperatures can be expected for a given area. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released their "Coldest Day of the Year" map, and the data is quite interesting.
Understanding the data portrayed by the map requires an understanding of how the data was collected in the first place. Scientists pulled data from 1991-2020 to gauge the climatic low temperature averages for the nation. Then, that data was used to determine a time frame in which it is most likely for a particular area to see their coldest day of the year. To reiterate, this is based on the lowest minimum temperature, not the lowest high temperatures for a location.
According to this map, most of Missouri will likely experience their lowest minimum temperature of the winter season from Jan. 16-20. Some areas in northeastern Missouri may experience their coldest minimum temperature from Jan. 21-25, and isolated areas within the Ozarks see their coldest low temperature in early January.
Across the nation, the latest minimum low temperatures occur in elevated areas such as mountaintops or along the Great Lakes. The earliest lowest daily temperatures are shown to occur west of the Rockies.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration explains on its website why the time frame for an expected lowest temperature becomes later the further northeast a location is within the nation: "The West is profoundly influenced by the flow of moderating air masses with clouds and precipitation coming off the Pacific Ocean and aligns more closely to the seasonal solar cycle, while the East is responding to cold air flowing south from Canada that is modified by snow cover reflecting solar radiation away from the surface."
In layman's terms, the eastern part of the United States sees colder low temperatures later into the year as weather patterns are drawing in colder air from our neighbors up north.
If you are someone who does not enjoy colder temperatures, retiring to Florida may not be your best bet. If you are looking to get that coldest minimum temperature out of the way quickly, then you may be more interested in California, Nevada or Arizona as they, on average, tend to have their coldest minimum temperature about one month earlier than most of Florida does.
On the flip side, if you want that colder air to stick around the longest, you may want to move on up to a lakeside home along the Great Lakes.
Maddie Est has worked as a broadcast meteorologist and marine meteorologist since graduating from the University of Missouri in 2021. She has worked with the Missouri Climate Center and conducted research on atmospheric blocking while at MU.