Which U.S. city, with a population of 50,000 or over, has the coldest winters?

Grand Forks, ND, located in the far eastern portion of the state, on the Minnesota border, is the coldest US city, with a winter mean temperature of 5.3 degrees fahrenheit. Second on the list with a mean of 6.8 degrees is Fargo, ND, located about 75 miles south of Grand Forks and also on the Minnesota border. In third place is St Cloud, MN, with a winter mean of 9.4 degrees, followed by Bismarck, also in North Dakota, at 10.1 degrees and Duluth, MN at 10.1 degrees. For comparison, Anchorage, Alaska, comes in at a balmy 16 degrees.

Grand Forks is the third largest city in the state, behind Fargo and Bismarck, with a population of almost 53,000 (2010 census), and a metro area of almost 100,000 inhabitants. It is home to the University of North Dakota, the state's oldest university and widely regarded as the top American university on the northern plains. In 1954 Grand Forks was awarded Grand Forks Air Base, creating thousands of jobs in the area.