Where Is the Coldest Place In All Of South Dakota?

Whenever I find myself starting to crab about the heat, humidity, and bugs that our summer seasons bring, I am reminded by many of my friends about what the alternative is.

Don't get me wrong, summer is still my least favorite season, but winter is beginning to run a close second. And, it's not the snow. I can put up with snow, but ice and icy cold wind have become very unpopular in my household.

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Every winter, my little driveway turns into a skating rink, and without any skating skills or a handy-dandy Zamboni to navigate it, I find myself at a major disadvantage. But again, it seems to be a matter of perspective.

In other words, I'm reminded that it could always be worse. Pondering this fact led me to some exploring.

Sure, Sioux Falls gets some cold temperatures in the winter, but where in South Dakota is the coldest place in the state?

It turns out that distinction belongs to the little town of McIntosh. With a population of around 100, McIntosh is the county seat of Corson County.

On February 17, 1936, thermometers in the community dropped to the bone-chilling temperature of -58°F. This record still stands today.

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What makes McIntosh so vulnerable to the cold is its location and geography in the state. It sits near the North Dakota border on the Standing Rock Reservation and is subject to arctic winds that come down from Canada.

It has no geographical barriers to temper the cold fronts that move into that part of South Dakota, and so it bears the brunt of those cold winter storms.

However, what this says about South Dakotans is also very clear: we are a resilient group of people, no matter how much I - or we - complain about the weather.