A wise newspaper sage many years ago shared with me this advice: If you want your newspaper guaranteed to be read, include stories or photos of kids, pets and the weather.

While the popular belief is that newspapers just want to sensationalize headlines to lure readers into stories, in truth, that mentor was spot-on with his advice. If you want the recipe for successful newspaper sales it is kids, pets and weather.

Thus, even though I wrote about weather last week in this space, I couldn’t resist another stab at it again today after what I believe to be a fascinating statistic fell into my lap. It seems that a recent study conducted by an internet “financial news and opinion company” identified the 50 coldest cities in the U.S. Alpena was listed at the 27th slot.

Certainly, the weather over the past seven days would confirm the validity of that ranking. In fact, if anything, some might argue we should have been listed even higher up in the ranking.

So how does one determine such statistics, and just how much do we trust this study?

The information was released by a company known as 24/7 Wall Street.

The study’s author used 2015 U.S. Census numbers to first determine a city had at least 10,000 residents. After that, the author reviewed the minimum average temperature for each city’s coldest month between 1981 and 2010 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Record low temperatures, average annual snowfall, and average wind speed come from NOAA’s 2015 Comparative Climatic Data report.

In a bit of depressing reality, the study’s author, Evan Comen, noted that not only did the coldest cities have the lowest temperatures, they also experience the longest winters.

“While winter is considered to last for about 90 days, all of these cities have at least 120 days a year when temperatures drop below freezing,” Comen noted.

That statistic did not surprise me. I remember a similar study done in the 1990s that, at that time, placed Alpena in the top 10 of experiencing harsh and long winters.

Comen noted Alpena’s normal low in the coldest month is 11.4 degrees, while its lowest temperature on record is -37.

For those curious, like me, the 26th-coldest city was Des Moines, Iowa, while the 28th was Helena, Montana.

The top-five coldest cities in the U.S. were:

1.) Fairbanks, Alaska

2.) Grand Forks, North Dakota

3.) Williston, North Dakota

4.) Fargo, North Dakota, and

5.) Duluth, Minnesota.

In Michigan, Marquette finished in the top 10, nailing down the number nine spot.

We all understand it takes a hearty soul and positive outlook on life to call Northeast Michigan home.

Studies like this help put that even more into perspective.

Bill Speer can be reached at 989-354-3111, ext. 311, or bspeer@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @billspeer13.