The earth is a unique place to be in. What make it interesting are the geographical extremities that could be found in different continents of the globe. You could find the highest and the lowest, the wettest and driest and also the hottest and the coldest places. Defining cold could be a subjective topic but here’s a list of the coldest places on earth measured by its temperature:
1) Rogers Pass, Montana
Rogers Pass is at 5, 610 feet above sea level and is located on the continental divide in Montana. The lowest temperature recorded is at -70°F. It was recorded on 20 January 1954 and is the coldest place in the United States outside Alaska. Rogers Pass is known to be a haven for grizzlies.
2) Fort Selkirk, Yukon
Fort Selkirk is a former trading post located near the Yukon River. It was the home to the Selkirk First Nation for many years. The lowest temperature recorded at Fort Selkirk stands at -74°F.
3) Prospect Creek, Alaska
Prospect Creek is the coldest place in the United States and second only to Snag in North America. It is a small village 180 miles north of Fairbanks and 25 miles northeast of Bettles, Alaska. It houses the Trans-Alaska pipeline which was built in 1977.
The lowest temperature recorded at Prospect Creek was on 23rd January 1971 at -80F.
4) Snag, Yukon, Canada
Snag is a small village located off the Alaska Highway. It’s located 25 KM south of Beaver Creek, Yukon. The lowest temperature recorded at Snag was on the 3rd of February 1947 at -81F. Snag became famous during the Klondike Gold Rush and has an aboriginal village 8KM away from the White River.
5) Eismitte, Greenland
Commonly known as Mid Ice in English, Eismitte was the site of an Arctic expedition that claimed the life of notable German scientist Alfred Wegener. The coldest temperature recorded was during the expedition in 1930. It stands at -85F.
6) North Ice, Greenland
North Ice is a research station of the British North Greenland Expedition, led by Comm. James Simpson on the inland ice of Greenland. The lowest temperature recorded here was on the 9th of January 1954 at -86.8F. Interestingly, the name of the station contrasts the British South Ice station in Antarctica.
7) Verkhoyansk, Russia
Verkhoyansk and Oymyakon are considered as places for the Poles of Cold; places in the Northern and Southern hemispheres where the lowest air temperatures are recorded.
The lowest temperature recorded at Verkhoyansk stands at -94F. Verkhoyansk is a town and is a center for breeding reindeer. It is comparatively more developed than Oymyakon.
8) Oymyakon, Russia
Oymyakon should be dubbed the World’s coldest inhabited place on earth. It is a village located along the Indigirka River; approximately 30 KM nortwest of Tomtor on the Kolyma Highway; infamously known as the “Road of Bones” which passes through the Russian Far East.
The lowest temperature here was recorded on the 6th of February 1933 and it stands at -70F. Oymyakon has a small population of a few hundred and is nicknamed “Stalin’s Death Ring”; an ex-destination for political dissenters. Oymyakon ironically means “non-freezing water” due to its location near a hot spring.
9) Plateau Station, Antarctica
Plateau Station is an inactive American research and Queen Maud Land; a dependent territory claimed by Norway support base. In 1968, the average monthly temperature was recorded at -99.8F.
10) Vostok, Antarctica
At -128.6 F, Vostok is extremely cold and tops this article as the coldest place on earth. Located in Russie, Vostok is known for housing the Vostok Station; a Russian Antarctic research station that specializes in ice core drilling and magnetometry. Under the station is the world’s largest known sub glacial lake, Lake Vostok which is approximately 4000 meters below the surface of the central Antarctic surface.
There you have it! The coldest places on earth! Interestingly, even though they may be places that are desolated and boring, they are also the places that holds interesting stories of adventure and exploration.
