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Coldest U.S. State Capitals

Can you guess the U.S. state capitals with the lowest yearly mean temperature?
1991–2020 averages
Opposite quiz here
Quiz by georgekotz
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Last updated: August 12, 2021
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First submittedSeptember 8, 2017
Times taken17,085
Average score70.0%
Rating4.52
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°F
Capital
°C
42.3
Juneau
5.7
43.3
Bismarck
6.3
43.4
Montpelier
6.3
45.5
Helena
7.5
46.2
Augusta
7.9
°F
Capital
°C
46.8
Saint Paul
8.2
46.9
Cheyenne
8.3
47.0
Concord
8.3
47.3
Madison
8.5
47.6
Pierre
8.6
+11
Level 68
Feb 19, 2021
I know it's an US quiz, but would it possible to also add the temperatures in Celsius? It's obviously not needed to get the answers, but it would be interesting for people who aren't used to dealing with Fahrenheit. Thanks!
+4
Level ∞
Aug 12, 2021
Added
+7
Level 68
Apr 5, 2021
I don't feel like the year-round temperature is a good measure for this. I would argue that it would be better to use winter averages instead of yearly averages, to account for the oceanic effect. I am going to bet that Juneau is towards the warmer end of these states, winter wise, due to a strong oceanic effect, while cities like Bismarck, St. Paul, and Helena receive winters colder than the others due to a strong continental effect that creates extreme temperature highs in the summer and extreme colds in the winter.

Using a yearly average, you just smooth over the temperature variations that continental locations get, even if Bismarck might get 20 degrees colder than Juneau in the winter because Bismarck is much hotter in the summer, it has a higher temperature average overall

+1
Level 76
Jan 25, 2024
Indeed, in the spirit of the "Coldest World Capitals" quiz, this quiz doesn't exactly reflect how cold the winters are, but rather how cold/cool these places are year-round. For winter temperatures, try this quiz for U.S. state capitals and this one for world capitals!
+1
Level 62
Jan 3, 2022
took me embarrassingly long to realize that it was state capitals not states
+1
Level 66
Feb 23, 2022
I spent way too much time typing and re-typing "Alaska" before I realized they wanted capitals...
+1
Level 63
Jan 5, 2022
Surprised to see Juneau at #1. Would have thought that being on the coast would have made it warmer than it is. Also surprised to see Saint Paul in the bottom half considering how cold MN is.
+3
Level 67
Jan 7, 2022
Well, it is really far north...
+1
Level 50
Jul 18, 2022
and in Alaska it’s freezing cold and it’s near the Arctic circle…
+1
Level 63
Jan 23, 2024
Juneau is almost 800 miles from the Arctic Circle. No, it's really not very close.
+1
Level 63
Jan 23, 2024
Right, but it's still on the coast which has a strong moderating effect on the temperature compared to a continental climate like Saint Paul has. Ulaanbaatar is on a significantly lower line of latitude than Juneau, for example, but is colder.
+2
Level 27
Jan 15, 2024
Twin Cities gets quite hot in summer, often reaching above 90°F. That's why the average temperature is high.
+1
Level 63
Jan 23, 2024
Yes, I grew up in Saint Paul and definitely have experienced humid summers. I just thought the really cold winters would have negated that more or less.
+3
Level 78
Feb 14, 2023
Usually these state weather quizzes have some weird nuance, but this one is pretty straightforward
+1
Level 74
Jan 15, 2024
Absolutely not me missing Juneau until the last second because my uncaffeinated brain thought Anchorage was the capital. *smacks hand with ruler, nun-style*