Detroit, MI - 12 Coldest Cities in the US

We found this list in USA Today newspaper. I copied it because I wanted to ensure that I never landed in any of these places in the winter. We have done ‘winter’ in our lives: we lived in Iowa for 21 years, New Hampshire for 10 years and then to show how smart we were we moved to Minnesota and lived there for 10 years. Not everyone is as smart as we are - we kept moving further north. Finally, we moved back to Iowa which, if you’ve already done ‘winter’ for 50 years of your life, you can skip over in your dash for the south and warmer temperatures.

Then we got wise and began to be snowbirds until we finally sold the house in Des Moines and began to be full-timers. We know that eventually we will need to find a place to live and I’m sure that it will not include shoveling snow off driveways or scraping ice off windshields or slipping and sliding down ice- and snow-covered sidewalks.

I do not want to live in an area where:
        every house has a steel roof

        

        cars are sold with heated seats

        people start their cars remotely from their warm toasty living rooms 15 minutes before they leave their house

        where you see signs like this:

One story: we lived in Maple Grove, MN, a bit northwest of Minneapolis for 10 years, where we owned 2 video stores. One October we had a 21” snowstorm, right before Halloween. We closed the video stores early and sent the employees home. Eric, one of them, asked if I would like a ride home but I turned him down since I knew that Gary, who had gone home earlier, was on his way to pick me up. Big mistake. Gary was stuck in our driveway and was trying to shovel his way out. 21” of snow and he had a 10” shovel. Finally he called me and told that he could not get out. (Remember, this is way before cell phones.)

I went into the convenience store next to us which was still open. The employee there had called the owners who had told her that she could not close early and had to stay to 11:00. I invited her up to the video store, we wrapped ourselves in the rugs in front of the counter and tried to sleep on the floor. Oh, yeah, right.

At 6:00, Gary called. He was going to snowblow the driveway and the street for 2 blocks so he could get out. What did I want? Well, clean clothes, a toothbrush, a wash cloth, a towel, hairdryer, make-up, etc. He did snowblow the street, brought me my stuff, headed over to his store and we were both open at 10:00, ready for business on a snowy day.

One week later we had a 23” snowstorm. 44” in 8 days. Get me outta here. (BTW: in April when the snow melted, there were hundreds of orange Halloween leaf bags throughout the town that had been covered by snow the whole winter.)

1. Fairbanks, Alaska
         Average monthly minimum temperature: -16.9 F
         Average monthly maximum temperature: 52.3 F
         Population: 31,891
        Average annual snowfall: 66.1 in.
2. Grand Forks, North Dakota
        Average monthly minimum temperature: -3.1 F
        Average monthly maximum temperature: 56.3 F
        Population: 53,315
        Average annual snowfall: Data unavailable
3. Fargo, North Dakota
        Average monthly minimum temperature: 0.1 F        
        Average monthly maximum temperature: 59.5 F
        Population: 108,371
        Average annual snowfall: 42.4 in.
4. Williston, North Dakota
        Average monthly minimum temperature: 0.1 F
        Average monthly maximum temperature: 55.8 F
        Population: 16,917
        Average annual snowfall: 43.8 in.
5. Duluth, Minnesota
        Average monthly minimum temperature: 1.5 F        
        Average monthly maximum temperature: 55.4 F
        Population: 86,234
        Average annual snowfall: 81.5 in.
6. Aberdeen, South Dakota
        Average monthly minimum temperature: 1.5 F
        Average monthly maximum temperature: 59.0 F
        Population: 26,506
        Average annual snowfall: 37.8 in.
7. St. Cloud, Minnesota
        Average monthly minimum temperature: 1.8 F
        Average monthly maximum temperature: 58.4 F
        Population: 65,996
        Average annual snowfall: 44.9 in.
8. Bismarck, North Dakota
        Average monthly minimum temperature: 2.2 F
        Average monthly maximum temperature: 57.4 F
        Population: 63,353
        Average annual snowfall: 44.9 in.
9. Marquette, Michigan
        Average monthly minimum temperature: 5.2 F
        Average monthly maximum temperature: 54.6 F
        Population: 21,399
        Average annual snowfall: 149.1 in.
10. Huron, South Dakota
        Average monthly minimum temperature: 6.6 F
        Average monthly maximum temperature: 61.4 F
        Population: 12,782
        Average annual snowfall: 41.2 in.
11. Sioux Falls, South Dakota
        Average monthly minimum temperature: 6.9 F
        Average monthly maximum temperature: 61.9 F
        Population: 157,675
        Average annual snowfall: 41.6 in.
12. Minneapolis-St.Paul, Minnesota
        Average monthly minimum temperature: 7.5 F
        Average monthly maximum temperature: 64.1 F
        Population: 677,914
        Average annual snowfall: 50.4 in.
Ironically, we have chosen #11 as our address for full-timing.