At minus 53 degrees Celsius, China’s northernmost city, Mohe, recorded its coldest temperature ever on Sunday (22 January).
Located in the Heilongjiang province, close to the Russian border, Mohe is known as “China’s North Pole”.
The city previously reported its lowest temperature in 1969 at minus 52.3 degrees Celsius. China’s coldest temperature so far was recorded at minus 58 degrees Celsius in Inner Mongolia’s Genhe city in December 2009.
Considered the coldest in China, the winter season in Mohe “usually lasts eight months”, says China Daily.
The city has seen temperatures below minus 50 degrees Celsius for three consecutive days since last Friday, which is unprecedented as per the Chinese media, reported BBC.
On Monday, China’s meteorological agency issued a blue cold wave warning and predicted mercury to significantly plunge in some parts of the country, CNN reported.
South Korea and North Korea have also issued cold wave warnings as the mercury is expected to deteriorate further.
In North Korea, the temperatures are expected to plummet below minus 30 degrees Celsius in the northern regions, its state radio broadcaster said, as per BBC.
Japan will also see extreme weather conditions as temperatures are likely to drop to the lowest in a decade this week, reported BBC.
As parts of East Asia bear the brunt of the freezing chill, let’s take a look at some of the coldest places on the globe.
East Antarctic Plateau, Antarctica
It is arguably the coldest region on Earth.
In 2010, the Landsat 8 satellite read a temperature of minus 92.3 degrees Celsius on the East Antarctic Plateau.
As per BBC Science Focus, this dry, cold desert then broke the record of the Vostok research station becoming the coldest region.
However, it is mostly not officially considered for the title as the temperatures were recorded with the help of remote sensing from satellites, instead of ground-based thermometers, The National reported.
The data accumulated between 2004 and 2016 across Dome Argus and Dome Fuji suggests the mercury can get around minus 94 degrees Celsius here, noted New Scientist magazine.
Antarctica’s Vostok Research Station
Established by the Soviet Union in 1957, the Vostok Research Station in Antarctica was once the coldest place on Earth.
In July 1983, minus 89.2 degrees Celsius temperature was taken with thermometers – the lowest air temperature ever directly recorded, as per a New Scientist report.
Besides the biting cold, the station is also located in one of the sunniest spots.
Every December, the place experiences over 22 hours of daily sunlight. However, during the polar night, Vostok sees no sunlight and records the lowest mean annual temperature of any other weather station, BBC Science Focus reported.
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Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica
Situated on the South Pole on “10,000-foot thick moving ice”, the Amundsen-Scott Station is operated by the United States Antarctic Programme.
It is one of the coldest places with minus 82.8 degrees Celsius being the lowest mercury recorded in 1982, The National report said.
Located about 3,000 metres above sea level, the station receives sunlight for six months in summer and is covered in darkness for the rest of the six months during winter.
Mount Denali in Alaska
Previously known as Mount McKinley, Denali – sitting 6000 metres above sea level – is the tallest mountain peak in North America.
Denali is the third highest of the Seven Summits – the highest mountains on the seven continents each.
A weather station near the mountain documented a record-low temperature of minus 73.8 degrees Celsius sometime between 1950 and 1969, reported BBC Science Focus.
Despite its numbing temperatures, Mount Denali is famous among tourists for Nordic skiing and mountaineering, noted The National.
Klinck research station, Greenland
Klinck station in central Greenland is the coldest place in the Northern Hemisphere, says The National.
In December 1991, a bone-chilling temperature of minus 69.6 degrees Celsius was recorded here.
Notably, in a worrying development, the Greenland ice sheet is melting rapidly due to climate change. It is being lost at an average of around 250 billion metric tons of ice per year, Scientific American reported in 2022.
Oymyakon, Russia
Oymyakon in eastern Siberia is the coldest inhabited place on Earth.
This tiny hamlet in Russia has a population of around 500.
Its lowest temperature was seen in February 1933 at minus 67.7 degrees Celsius.
The average temperature here falls to minus 58 degrees Celsius in the winter.
Last year, the Siberian marathon held near Oymyakon town had bagged the title of the world’s coldest marathon.
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North Ice, Greenland
North Ice research station in Greenland once witnessed the coldest ever temperature in the northern hemisphere.
The research station, established by the British North Greenland Expedition in 1952, was abandoned 69 years ago.
In January 1954, the mercury declined to minus 66.1 degrees Celsius here.
Russia’s Yakutsk
Yakutsk, the capital city of Russia’s Sakha Republic in eastern Siberia, sits on permafrost.
It has a population of roughly 3,55,500 and is one of the coldest regions on the planet, as per CNN.
The city experienced minus 64.4 degrees Celsius in 1891.
Last week, the temperatures in the world’s coldest city slipped to minus 62.7 degrees Celsius which the meteorologists say was the coldest in more than two decades.
Ice fog is common in Yakutsk in winter. AFP File Photo
“Ice fog” is common in Yakutsk in winter which occurs when “air is so cold that hot air from houses, people and cars cannot rise,” according to the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk, reported CNN.
Snag, Canada
Snag village in Yukon, Canada recorded minus 62.8 degrees Celsius in 1947, says New Scientist.
The now-abandoned village was used as an emergency landing strip during the Second World War.
Located 25 km from Beaver Creek, Snag housed 10 First Nation locals and 20 researchers in the 1940s, as per The National report.
Prospect Creek, Alaska
Towering 643 feet above sea level, Prospect Creek in United States’ Alaska is a tiny ghost town.
It was built as a settlement for workers of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System in the late 1970s, but is now deserted, New Scientist noted.
Mercury tumbled to minus 62.1 degrees Celsius in Prospect Creek in January 1971.
With inputs from agencies
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