Massachusetts Among Top 20 Coldest States in USA

How is it that this beach baby wound up in one of the coldest states in the nation? I was meant for palm trees, soft white sandy beaches, and calm clear blue seas. Yet somehow, I've spent my entire life living in cold states, like Massachusetts – one of the coldest.

We are told that our proximity to the Atlantic Ocean keeps us a little warmer along the southern coast of New England. That is of little solace, however, when your state ranks as one of the 20 coldest states out of the 50.

MentalFloss.com says, "Extreme Weather Watch used data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to find the overall average temperature of each U.S. state from 1991 through 2020." The site says, "World Population Review then plotted the points from coldest to hottest on a handy chart."

According to Extreme Weather Watch, the average high temperature for Massachusetts during the period was 58.8 degrees. The average low temperature was 38.7 degrees.

The average overall temperature for Massachusetts from 1991 to 2020 was 48.9 degrees, the 18th-coldest state in the nation.

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The coldest state by far was Alaska, with an average annual temperature of 28.1 degrees.

How did the other New England states rank?

Maine was the fourth-coldest state in the nation with an average annual temperature of 41.9 degrees. Vermont was seventh at 43.2 degrees. New Hampshire rocked 10th place at 44.2 degrees. The two remaining New England states did not make the list of the top 20 coldest states.

For the record, Connecticut has an average annual high temperature of 60 degrees and an average low temperature of 39.8 degrees. Rhode Island also has an annual average high temperature of 60 degrees but an average low temperature of 41.3 degrees.