30°F temperatures recorded in a nearby state Monday

Canaan Valley, W.Va. (WKBN) — Normally, you don’t think about 30°F temperatures in the month of August, but some of our friends in West Virginia have experienced this the past two days.

The temperature in Canaan Valley, West Virginia made it down to 33°F on Monday morning which was actually the coldest temperature in the contiguous United States.

The temperature returned to the 30s on Tuesday morning as a low temperature of 38°F was recorded in the same location. Notice in the image above how the temperatures surrounding the coldest station are much warmer. This might make you think that the 33°F measured in Canaan Valley is an error. In fact, the software even flagged the temperature with the word “caution”, so how do you know that this is not an error?

Canaan Valley is located in eastern West Virginia about 4 hours away from Youngstown. This particular part of Canaan Valley is known for experiencing very cold temperatures due to its unique topography. The valley is located at an elevation of approximately 3200 feet above sea level which is the highest of any valley of its size east of the Mississippi River. This alone makes it cooler than the surrounding areas. However, combining the elevation with the large size of the valley creates the potential for temperatures that are much colder than surrounding areas.

Cold air is more dense than warm air which means that it has a tendency to sink. The topography of a valley allows the cold air to slide down the terrain and collect on the valley floor . This leads to colder than normal temperatures especially and calm and clear nights.

A temperature of 33°F in August is not even that special in Canaan Valley. In fact, the temperature has made it as low as 25°F in August before and as low as 27°F in July.

The Valley also had its fair share of cooler temperatures on Tuesday morning. The temperature went as low as 49°F in Grove City, PA Tuesday morning.

Youngstown has not experienced a temperature in the 40s in nearly two months. The average low temperature drops into the 40s starting in late September, so it will still be a while until these temperatures become more common.

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