With all the crazy temperature changes across North America, you’ve got to wonder where the real cold spot is since we’ve definitely received our share of an odd blend of cold and warm temperatures here in Canada …
Photograph from Alaska by Podknox
Q: Where is the “Pole of Cold”?
A: The arctic is not all that cold. Temperatures at the North Pole average -24 degrees Fahrenheit (-31 degrees Celsius) in the wintertime and get up to 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius) during the summer. The real cold spot north of the equator is Russia’s “Pole of Cold,” south of the Arctic Circle in Siberia.
Two towns in this area fight to be considered the world’s coldest permanently inhabited communities. Verkhoyansk, population 1,500, has official recognition with a temperature of -93.6 degrees Fahrenheit (-69.8 degrees Celsius). Oymyakon, a town of 800, created by the Soviet Government to encourage nomadic reindeer herders in the northern Siberia to modernize, claims a reading of -96.2 degrees Fahrenheit (-71.2 degrees Celsius), using methods that did not meet official standards.
