CANAAN VALLEY — A location in Tucker County posted the lowest temperature in the contiguous United States Wednesday — exactly one year to the day after recording the lowest temperature in “the lower 48” on Jan. 22, 2024.

The Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge posted on social media that a low temperature of -28 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded at the location Wednesday morning.

“We’ve done it again, folks!” the post reads. “The weather station in the northern portion of Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge hit -28 °F this morning, Jan. 22. According to the National Weather Service, this was the lowest officially recognized temperature measured in the lower 48 today!”

An expert said Wednesday morning’s conditions had the potential to produce the coldest recorded temperature in state history.

The Refuge hosts a professionally sited and equipped weather station, which is operated and maintained by Virginia Tech instructor David Carroll.

The post states that Carroll said “if winds had been calm all night, temperatures at this station could have fallen to -40 F or lower with the extremely dry Polar air mass in place and deep fresh powdery snow pack of about two feet covering the ground. The current all-time officially recognized low temperature for the state of WV is -37 F.”

Ironically, exactly one year earlier, on Jan. 22, 2024, Canaan Valley also posted the lowest temperature in the contiguous United States for that day, at -19 degrees Fahrenheit.

The lowest temperature ever recorded in Canaan Valley was -31 degrees, also posted on a Jan. 22, this time in 2022.

The Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge Virginia Tech University research weather station lies in a large flat, open meadow in the wild, untouched northern end of Canaan Valley at an elevation of 3,150 feet, officials said.

Such places are commonly referred to as “frost hollows,” which catch and pool cold air forming extremely well at night.