Arizona has a new chill hall of fame, and February 1939 just reclaimed center stage. A fresh statewide ranking of the coldest Februarys on record, going all the way back to 1895, resurfaced several early- and mid-20th-century deep freezes and reminded residents that single-month cold snaps still leave a serious mark on the climate record.
The list, compiled by Stacker and republished online on Feb. 7, puts 1939 at the front of the pack. As reported by AZFamily, that month logged a statewide average temperature of 35.6°F, with the monthly low dipping to 23.9°F. The ranking also slots February 1933 and February 1903 among the standouts, with statewide averages of roughly 36.7°F and 38.1°F, respectively.
How the ranking was compiled
Stacker built the rundown from historical state-level monthly averages maintained by the National Centers for Environmental Information. According to the NCEI's Climate at a Glance tool, those statewide values are calculated from adjusted station records that account for changes in instruments, station relocations, and urbanization. Some near‑real‑time values can be updated later after additional quality control.
What the numbers mean for Arizona
One brutally cold month, even a headline-grabber like February 1939, does not rewrite the longer story for the region. As explained by Yale Climate Connections and NOAA researchers, the Southwest has warmed substantially over the last century-plus, by roughly a few degrees on average, and scientists stress that occasional cold extremes can still pop up in the middle of an overall warming and drying trend.
How to read the list
"Statewide average" is a blunt instrument for a state as varied as Arizona. It smooths out massive differences in elevation and microclimate, so mountain towns and high plateaus often run far colder than the low deserts that most people think of first. For detailed day-to-day conditions and official local records, residents are better off going straight to their local forecast office, such as the National Weather Service Phoenix or NWS Flagstaff, which publish local observations and climate summaries.
In the end, Stacker’s list is a handy historical snapshot and a nudge to remember how wildly Arizona’s climate can swing from year to year. Meteorologists and climate scientists point out that longer datasets and context from government tools like NCEI are still crucial for figuring out what any single cold month really says about the region’s climate story.
