Winter usually garners one of two reactions – love or hate. You either love the cold, snowy days of the coldest season of the year in Rhode Island, or you don’t. While we have plenty of outdoor activities to keep us busy all winter long, some days are just too brutally cold to bundle up and head outdoors. However, it’s been decades since we’ve experienced the coldest temperature in Rhode Island – to date.
Rhode Island can get downright chilly during the winter months, but January is usually considered the coldest month of the season with temperatures averaging between 19 and 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
If you live on the coast of Rhode Island, you’re lucky enough to experience a bit warmer temperatures. January’s average temperature in coastal areas is 25 degrees Fahrenheit.
While that might seem cold, we’re quite fortunate that the temperature rarely dips below zero in Rhode Island. Coastal areas might contend with a single day each winter where the temperature clocks in below zero.
That number rises to a handful if you live in the interior of Rhode Island. However, one town in Rhode Island received a record-breaking low temperature in January, and it’s yet to be matched to this day.
On January 17, 1942, Richmond experienced the coldest temperature – -28 degrees Fahrenheit – in Rhode Island history. Warwick got close to beating that record in 1996 when the temperature plummeted to -25 degrees Fahrenheit.
Learn more about Rhode Island’s climate all year around on the Department of Environmental Management website.
What is the coldest temperature in Rhode Island that you remember? Do you remember the day the temperature plunged to below freezing? Let us know in the comments. If you’re yearning for a bit of summer fun in the dead of winter, make your way to this outdoor heated pool in Rhode Island.
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