Coldest Places On Earth

Our planet Earth is not bereft of extremes, including extremes in temperature. Some regions are frighteningly cold compared to other places which are extremely hot. These cold extremes make it severely difficult for people to lead regular day-to-day lives (unless the cold never bothered you anyway). Here are the places with the coldest temperatures on the planet.

You will see nothing in Eismitte but ice, ice, and more ice. It is located in the interior part of Greenland, that’s why it earns its name (which means “Ice-Center” in German), and its other English name “Mid-Ice.” Eismitte was the site of the Arctic expedition during the 1930s. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Eismitte was −64.9 °C (−85 °F), during the expedition.

Fort Selkirk

A former trading post along the Yukon River at the confluence of the Pelly River in Yukon territory, Fort Selkirk is one of the extremely cold places on Earth. Once totally deserted in 1950 due to severely freezing conditions, the place is inhabited again. However, it is not easily accessible as there are no roads going to it, so people are only able to get to Fort Selkirk by boat or by aircraft. The coldest temperature recorded in Fort Selkirk is -74 °F. January is the region’s coldest month.

North Ice was formerly a research station of the British North Greenland Expedition on Greenland’s icy inland, North Ice is currently the fifth coldest place on earth. The lowest temperatures ever recorded there are -86.8F and -66C.

Oymyakon is a selo (a rural locality or village) in Russia. It is considered one of the coldest inhabited regions in the world due to its harsh subarctic climate. It is so frigid that the ground seems to be forever frozen. The lowest temperature recorded so far is −71.2 °C (−96.2 °F), registered by Russian scientist Sergey Obrychev in 1924.

Plateau Station is a now-defunct American research and Queen Maud Land Traverse support base on the central Antarctic plateau. Plateau Station is the second coldest place on earth, with the lowest recorded temperature at unbelievable -119.2 °F.

Prospect Creek

Prospect Creek is a minor settlement that lies 180 miles north of Fairbanks and 25 miles north of Bettles. Having a sub-arctic climate, Prospect Creek experiences long winters and very brief summers. Its lowest registered temperature so far is at −80 °F (−62 °C), which was recorded on January 23, 1971.

With an elevation of 5,610 feet (1,710 meters) above sea level, Rogers Pass is the site of one of the harshest temperatures ever recorded in the US. Its all-time low temperature is −70 °F (−57 °C), recorded during a very sharp cold spell there in January 1954.

Another wintry village in Canada’s Yukon territory, Snag is unbearably freezing. Its all-time low temperature recorded is -81.4 °F. January is the coldest month.

Verkhoyansk is a town under the district jurisdiction of Verkhoyansky in Russia. It is notorious for its remarkably low temperatures and some of the most severe temperature differences between winter and summer. Its lowest recorded temperature — −69.8 °C (−93.6 °F) — was recorded in February 1892.

Vostok is a Russian (initially Soviet) research station, located in the South Pole. Its coldest temperature ever yet recorded is −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F). August is the coldest month.