All-time Record Hottest and Coldest Temperatures Ever Recorded in Anchorage, Alaska

Weather temperatures have been officially kept in Anchorage, Alaska since 1916. These are the all-time record hottest and coldest temperatures ever recorded in Anchorage since 1916.

Located along the Cook Inlet in southern Alaska, the city of Anchorage has a much milder climate than the extremes found in the state of Alaska. This is born out by the differences between the all-time hottest and coldest temperatures ever recorded in Anchorage, compared to the all-time hottest and coldest temperatures recorded in Alaska.

The difference between the all-time hottest and coldest temperatures ever recorded in Anchorage is 130 degrees. The difference between the all-time hottest and coldest temperatures ever recorded in the state of Alaska is 180 degrees; a huge difference of 50 degrees.

Alaska is one of the most extreme weather states in the United States by temperatures.

Record Hottest and Coldest Temperatures Ever Recorded in Anchorage, Alaska

All-time Record Hottest Temperature Ever Recorded in Anchorage is 92 Degrees

The hottest weather temperature ever officially recorded in the city of Anchorage is 92 degrees, which occurred on June 26, 1931.

It never really gets hot in Anchorage, as the record 92 degree temperature reading was the only time in the city's history that the temperature was over 90 degrees. Even 80 degree temperature days are relatively rare in Anchorage, as the city has only had a little over three dozen such days since 1916.

In 1989, I spent a summer in Alaska, including about a week in the Anchorage area and the Kenai Peninsula. I was surprised at how suburban the Anchorage area was, it was not a whole lot different than the New Jersey area where I lived, with malls and strip malls filled with many of the same stores, restaurants and shops.

I made the mistake of leaving Anchorage on a Friday afternoon for the Kenai Peninsula, and ended up stuck in a traffic jam, which was the last thing I expected to run into in Alaska. The Anchorage area, including the Kenai Peninsula, is filled with fantastic beauty featuring mountains, valleys, rivers, and inlets offering incredible views.

As I was driving to Homer, the women in front of me hit and killed a moose. That was a shocking sight to see, but the locals told me over 300 moose a year are hit by cars on the Kenai Peninsula. In suburban New Jersey, we have to worry about hitting deer, which are a whole lot smaller than moose. Alaska is a fascinating place to visit.

• Hottest Temperature Ever Recorded in Alaska is 100 Degrees 

The all-time record hottest temperature ever recorded in the state of Alaska is 100 degrees, which occurred on June 27, 1915, in Fort Yukon, which is located along the Yukon River about 650 miles northeast of Anchorage.

The difference between the all-time hottest temperature ever recorded in Anchorage (92) and the all-time hottest temperature ever recorded in the state of Alaska (100) is eight degrees. A decent sized statistical difference.

All-time Record Coldest Temperature Ever Recorded in Anchorage is -38 Degrees

The coldest weather temperature ever officially recorded in Anchorage -38 degrees, which occurred on February 3, 1947.

As one might imagine, below zero weather temperatures are pretty common in Anchorage, as the city has had below zero temperatures in seven out of the 12 months of the year (October through April). Since 1916, Anchorage has had six days when the temperature dropped to -35 degrees or colder.

• Coldest Temperature Ever Recorded in Alaska is -80 Degrees 

The coldest weather temperature ever officially recorded in the state of Alaska is -80 degrees, which occurred on January 23, 1971, at Prospect Creek Camp, which is located about 540 miles north of Anchorage.

The -80 degrees is the coldest temperature ever recorded in the United States. The coldest temperature ever recorded in North America outside of Greenland was -81.4 degrees on February 3, 1947, in Snag in the Yukon Territory in Canada. On January 9, 1954, it was -87 degrees in Northice in Greenland.

The difference between the all-time coldest temperature ever recorded in Anchorage (-38) and the all-time coldest temperature ever recorded in the state of Alaska (-80) is 42 degrees. A huge statistical difference.

Overall, the city of Anchorage has a much milder climate than the extremes found in the state of Alaska. Even though Anchorage has what most people would consider a rough climate to live in, the city stays cooler in the summer and much warmer in the winter than the extreme temperatures found in Alaska.