Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is the 4th Coldest Place in the World

Top 10 Coldest Places in the World

Officially, a Russian research station located in Vostok, Antarctica recorded the lowest ever temperature on July 21, 1983. The coldest temperature as read by a scientific thermometer at the location was −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F). Vostok is in the Guinness Book of World Records for attaining the lowest natural temperature ever directly recorded at ground level on Earth.

According to a new satellite reading in August 2010, Dome Fiji Ridge, Antarctica recorded the coldest temperature at −94.7 °C (−135.8 °F). However, this new reading will not be included in the Guinness Book of World Records because these were satellite measured, not from thermometers. Which are the other coldest places in the world? Let’s look at the top ten coldest places in the world.

Check out the list of top 10 coldest places in the world (inclusive of satellite measured and thermometer measured):

10. Snag, Canada −63 °C

Snag in Canada 10th among the Coldest Places in the World
By Gerald Holdsworth [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Snag, Yukon recorded the coldest ever temperature in Canada in 1947. The Siberian air that blew to this small abandoned village saw freezing temperatures of −62.8 °C. The temperature recorded on Feb 3, 1947 is considered the coldest ever in the country. Google dedicated a doodle to the freezing town. This small village is located off the Alaska Highway. A bowl-shaped valley engulfs the village. In 1947, the population of only 10 inhabited this frigid place on earth.

9. North Ice, Greenland −66.1 °C

North ice in Greenland is the 9th Coldest Place in the World
via Wikimedia Commons

North Ice was a research station of British North Greenland Expedition on the inland ice of Greenland. The expedition lasted from 1952 to 1954. On 9 January 1954, North Ice recorded the lowest temperature ever in North America with −66.1 °C (−87.0 °F).

8. Klinck Research Station, Greenland −69.4 °C

Klinck Resarch Station in Antartica is the 8th Coldest Place in the World
By euphro (Flickr: Klincke Nunatak snow-top with skidoo) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
The record temperature of −69.7 °C was measured at Klinck Research Station, Greenland that broke the record of North Ice. The scientists from the University of Wisconsin measured the temperature at Klinck Research Station using an automatic thermometer on December 22, 1991. The Klinck Research Station is located within the Arctic Circle at an elevation of 10,187 feet. Two different places from within the Greenland reached the spot of top ten coldest places on Earth.

7. Verkhoyansk, Russia −69.8 °C

Verkhoyansk in Russia is 7th Coldest Place in the World
By Becker0804 (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The town of Verkhoyansk is located in Verkhoyansky District of the Sakha Republic, Russia, near the Arctic Circle. The town holds the Guinness World Record for greatest temperature range of 105 °C (189 °F) on Earth. In February 1892, a record temperature of −69.8 °C (−93.6 °F) recorded at this place made it as one of the coldest places on the planet. The town has witnessed temperatures below −60 °C multiple times.

6. Oymyakom, Russia −71.2 °C

Oymyakom in Russia is 6th Coldest Place in the World
By Maarten Takens (http://www.flickr.com/photos/takens/8684784715/) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Oymyakom is the coldest inhabited place in the world. Oymyakom’s extreme cold weather is comparable to Verkhoyansk. Oymyakom is a rural locality in Oymyakonsky District of the Sakha Republic, Russia. In 1924, the place recorded a temperature of −71.2 °C (−96 °F) and in 1933 the place recorded −67.8 °C (−90 °F). This is considered as the lowest ever recorded temperature in a habitat center that has a population of around 500.

5. Mount McKinley, Alaska −73.8 °C

Mount McKinley in Alaska is the 5th Coldest Place in the World
By Photo (c)2006 Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man) (Self-photographed) [GFDL 1.2], via Wikimedia Commons
Denali is the other name of Mount McKinley which is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of 20,310 feet (6,190 m) above sea level. Denali is the third most prominent and third most isolated peak only after Mount Everest and Aconcagua. Located in the Alaskan range, in the interior of the U.S. state of Alaska, the mountain range experiences extreme cold weather round the year. December 1, 2003, the place measured a temperature of −59.7 °C (−75.5 °F). The lowest ever recorded temperature at this place was −73.8 °C (−100 °F).

4. Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station −82 °C

Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is the 4th Coldest Place in the World
By Allan Timm (US Antarctica Program Common Share Servers) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is a United States scientific research station at the Geographic South Pole. The original Amundsen–Scott Station built by the United States government during November 1956 is a part of its commitment to the scientific goals of the International Geophysical Year (IGY), an international effort lasting from January 1957 through June 1958, to study, among other things, the geophysics of the Polar Regions. The southernmost habitation on Earth experiences one extremely long “day” and one extremely long “night” each year. The recorded temperature in the region varies between −12.3 °C (9.9 °F) and −82.8 °C (−117.0 °F).

3. Dome A, Antarctic Plateau −82.5 °C

Dome A, Antarctic Plateau is the 3rd Coldest Place in the World
Photo taken by Stephen Bannister [CC BY 2.5], via Wikimedia Commons
Dome A or Dome Argus is located on the massive East Antarctic Ice Sheet and is the highest ice feature of Antarctica. With temperatures nearing −90 °C (−130 °F) during certain winters, Dome Argus is considered as one of the coldest naturally occurring place on Earth. As of 28 September 2010, the coldest temperature recorded by thermometer at this place is −82.5 °C (−116.5 °F). Almost every winter Dome A records temperatures below −80 °C. Also, the driest location in the world receives 1 to 3 cm snow every year. Satellite readings of the location’s temperature had previously been close to −90 °C.

2. Vostok Research Station, Russia −89.2 °C

Russia's Vostok Research Station is the Coldest Ever Recorded Place on Earth Using Thermometer
By NSF/Josh Landis, employee 1999-2001 (Antarctic Photo Library, U.S.Antarctic Program) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Vostok Station, built by the Soviet Union in 1957 lies at the southern Pole of Cold in Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica. The Russian research station conducts researches that include ice core drilling and magnetometry. Vostok, Antarctica recorded the lowest temperature ever in the world on July 21, 1983. The lowest reliably measured temperature on Earth of −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) was in Vostok on 21 July 1983 at 05:45 Moscow Time, which was 07:45 for Vostok’s time zone, and 01:45 UTC. This beat the station’s former record of −88.3 °C (−126.9 °F) on 24 August 1960.

1. Dome Fuji Ridge, East Antarctic Plateau −94.7 °C

Dome Fiji Ridge East Antarctic Plateau is the Coldest Place in the World
Photograph: Atsuhiro Muto/AP

A NASA satellite measured the coldest ever temperature on the surface of Earth in Dome Fuji, East Antarctica on Aug 2010. Dome Fuji Station is a Japanese research station on the eastern part of Queen Maud Land. Also, known as Dome F or Valkyrie Dome, the location experiences extreme weather conditions throughout the year. Satellite measurements of the surface temperature of Antarctica, taken between 1982 and 2013, found a coldest temperature of −93.2 °C (−135.8 °F) on 10 August 2010.

Vinod Suthersan is an young tech enthusiast, Blogger addict, Internet craze and thriving to learn new things on the world of Internet.