This is the location where the coldest temperature ever recorded in the Northern Hemisphere was was set back in 1933 in Oymyakon, Siberia (Image source: Daily Mail/Reuters)
Reports are filtering out of Russia and circling various media outlets about a new all-time record set at the Northern Hemisphere’s ‘Pole of Cold’. The small settlement known for extreme cold and the coldest inhabited place on the planet, Oymyakon, appears to have broken it’s old fierce cold record of -68C (-90.4F) set back on February 6, 1933 which is a record shared with the town of Verkhoyansk. On the morning of February 19 an apparent reading of -71.2C or -96.1F was recorded in Oymyakon which, if accurate would make for a new all-time cold record for not only Oymyakon, Siberia or even Asia but the Northern Hemisphere, Incredible! So much for global warming right?
The old record of -68C or -90.4F in Oymyakon also held the Northern Hemisphere record and amazingly, almost exactly 80 years later, a new record appears to have been set in the midst of a particularly brutal winter right across Russia which brought record cold throughout December. It’s been a very long and particularly harsh winter with headlines of cold and massive snows filtering out of Siberia throughout this winter. Snow cover was particularly extensive across northern Asia very early on and this set the stage for extremely cold air to build.
So, where is this tiny, hidden, tucked away little settlement known as Oymyakon? The vallage is located in the northeast Siberian province of Yakutia which is an area 5 times the size of France and covers 3 time zones. This region, landlocked and in the far north is home to the coldest inhabited communities on earth. It’s so far north that some 40% of the province lies north of the arctic circle.
Image source: Daily Mail/Reuters
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A local meteorologist, Valery Vinokorov who takes measurements at the recording station in Oymyakon told the news network, Russia Today in a documentary that when we recorded a temperature of -63C or -81F a few years ago in the settlement, “it was so cold that my spit froze before hitting the ground”.
The RT program says that the ground is frozen year-round, known as permafrost and in fact some 65% of Russia is covered by this.
The city of Yakutsk, home to roughly 269,486 people, located on the Lena River is the provincial of Yakutia and about 500 miles northeast and 3 days drive to the southwest of Oymyakon. Yakutsk is in fact the largest city on earth to be built on permafrost. While winter lows average -40C here, it’s dipped to as low as -64.4C or -83.9F. As cold as that is, it’s communities hundreds, if not a few thousands miles to the north, northeast which see even worse cold every winter. The cold is deeper in northern and eastern parts of this vast province, located thousands of miles from the warming influence of ocean. Communities such as Oymyakon, lie tucked away at the bottom of frozen valleys with mountains surrounding them. The geography allows cold air to drain into Oymyakon and other nearby small settlements from surrounding mountains.
A man leaves his van and walks into Oymyakon’s only shop as paper waste is burnt in a 40 gallon drum (Image: Daily Mail)
Valley Floors Are Colder Than Mountain Tops: Cold Air Sinks Into Valleys And Settles
Vast stable arctic high pressure systems develop and build during autumn and early winter which lock in the cold for 6 months at a time. The stronger the arctic high with not a cloud to be seen, the colder the air becomes. While the entire region endures days, weeks and even months permanently below -40C/F, it’s during particular meteorological conditions that super cold air sets in to these tiny, frozen communities sitting at the bottom of valley floors. Cold air sinks beneath arctic high’s but it also drains down mountain sides and settles within valleys. Mountain tops are often ‘warmer’ than the valleys below as all the way air runs down the mountains, settling at the bottom. While surrounding areas shiver at -50C or -58F, head just a couple of miles down the hill and into Oymyakon which lies at the bottom of the valley and the temperature may be -58C or -72F.
Oymyakon village at dawn with a plume of smoke rising from the heating plant. Most people still burn coal and wood for heat. When coal deliveries are irregular the power station starts burning wood. If the power ceases, the town shuts down in about five hours, and the pipes freeze and crack (Daily Mail)
The ready recorded back on the the 18th, will need to be clarified by the world meteorological organisation before being declared official but this is certainly an exciting wait.
Related arcticles
Northern Hemisphere Sets New, All-Time Record Cold Temperature: -96.1°F In Oymyakon Siberia !!
Winters in western Siberia will become colder
Video On Oymyakon’s Infamous Cold
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