Most of Arizona’s record-breaking temperatures have occurred in the summer, but 1971 was a very different year. On January 7, temperatures dropped to a frigid -40 degrees Fahrenheit at Hawley Lake, the lowest temperature ever measured in the Grand Canyon State. That season was, quite possibly, the coldest winter in Arizona history.

Arizona is no stranger to extreme weather - of the warm variety, anyway.
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Temperatures in the southern region of the state regularly soar into the triple digits in the summer, with Lake Havasu City reaching a stifling 128 degrees in June 1994.
The Grand Canyon State cannot be pigeonholed, however.
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Up north - particularly in Flagstaff, which is the snowiest town in Arizona - it's an entirely different story. Summers aren't nearly as brutal as they are down south, and winters are reminiscent of a Hallmark movie.
Despite receiving an average of over 200 inches of snow per year, Flagstaff actually doesn't hold the record for the lowest-known temperature in the state.
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That honor goes to Hawley Lake, a 300-acre reservoir tucked away in the White Mountains on the White Mountain Apache Indian Reservation.

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Perched at an elevation of 8,200 feet, Hawley Lake plunged to a frigid -40 degrees Fahrenheit on January 7, 1941.
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This is the lowest-recorded temperature in Arizona history, and nothing has even come close since then.
Hawley Lake also holds the record for the most precipitation in a calendar year in Arizona.
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The record of 58.92 inches was set in 1978, and much of the precipitation was snow.
Who knows when, if ever, Arizona will see a temperature as bone-chilling as that day in 1971...
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...but stranger things have happened - like these snowcapped Saguaros as a result of a rare Tucson snowfall!

Can you believe the temperature dropped so low in Arizona in 1971? Tell us your thoughts in the comments! Don’t forget to check out our previous article for more things to do in Arizona’s snowiest town this winter.

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