You can wear a hat, you can wear gloves, you can wear a long coat. But there's no getting around it: Winter in Illinois is cold. And according to a prediction from the Old Farmer's Almanac, this season is going to be no different.
But a new list shows that maybe, Illinois isn't that cold. On it, Illinois doesn't even rank among the coldest states in the country.
According to an article from the website Mental Floss published earlier this month, data from Extreme Weather Watch, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration was recently used to determine the "overall average temperature of each U.S. state from 1991 through 2020." From there, the website World Population Review created a chart plotting the points from coldest to hottest.
And while some states on Mental Floss' list of 20 aren't very shocking -- like Alaska at No. 1, with an average temperature of 28.1 degrees Fahrenheit -- Illinois is curiously missing. In fact, it barely makes the top 30, squeaking out at No. 28, with an average temperature of 52 degrees.
Rounding out the top five coldest states after Alaska are North Dakota, with an average temperature of 41.1 degrees; Minnesota, with an average temperature of 41.8 degrees; Maine, with an average temperature of 41.9 degrees; and Wyoming, with an average temperature of 42.3 degrees.
As for the country's least coldest state? That's Florida, with an average temperature of 71.5 degrees, according to the chart.
Perhaps Chicago winters aren't as bad as they seem.
You can read the full list here.
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