What is the coldest temperature the Earth can reach?

There are some bone-chillingly cold places on Earth, but what was the lowest temperature ever recorded and where?

There are some very cold places on Earth. From the South Pole to the Arctic, temperatures can drop to bone-chilling levels. But what is the coldest temperature ever recorded? And what are the coldest cities, or inhabited areas, on Earth?

In general, the average temperature of Earth varies from minus 25 degrees Celsius to 45 degrees Celsius. This is quite a small variation when compared to the daytime temperatures on Mercury that soar to 430 degrees Celsius while at night they plummet to minus 180 degrees Celsius.

However, Earth also has its extremes. Here are some of the coldest temperatures ever recorded on our planet.

Where is the coldest place on Earth?

East Antarctic Plateau - minus 98 degrees Celsius.

On an icy plateau in east Antarctica, temperatures can drop as low as minus 98 degrees Celsius, making it the coldest place on Earth.

The researchers made the discovery by re-examining satellite data from a mountainside in Antarctica that had previously reached -93C. Their new analysis, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, shows that temperatures actually dropped even lower.

They found that the factors driving these cold temperatures were clear skies and extremely dry air (since clouds and humidity can trap heat in the air). Both of these conditions would have to exist for several days for temperatures to drop to -98 degrees Celsius.

This appears to be the limit of how cold it can get at the Earth's surface, said Ted Scambos, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado-Boulder, who initiated the study.

What was the coldest temperature ever recorded?

Vostok Research Station, Antarctica - minus 89.2 degrees Celsius

Vostok Research Station is 1,301km from the South Pole.

Before the East Antarctic Plateau's record low temperature was set on August 10, 2010, the Vostok Research Station, 1,301 km from the South Pole, held the world record for the coldest temperature ever recorded. During a 10-day period during the Southern Hemisphere summer, on July 21, 1983, weather data recorded a cold temperature of -89.2 degrees Celsius.

The climate conditions must be perfect for temperatures to reach this low. In 2009, researchers discovered that a cold air mass was blocking relatively warm air from the ocean from flowing in, trapping the station in a vortex of icy air. There were also no clouds, which would have helped trap heat.

In the study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, the researchers said that under the right conditions, temperatures at Vostok Station could get even colder, with a possible record low of minus 96 degrees Celsius.

Where is the coldest inhabited place?

Oymyakon, Russia - minus 71.2 degrees Celsius

The village of Oymyakon in eastern Siberia is known as the coldest inhabited place on Earth. Its name translates to 'water that does not freeze' due to a nearby hot spring. The town was originally a destination for reindeer herders, who would bring their herds to the spring for water.

The average winter temperature in Oymyakon reaches minus 50 degrees Celsius. The city's coldest day on record was in 1924, when the temperature dropped to minus 71.2 degrees Celsius.

What is the lowest temperature recorded in the northern hemisphere?

Klinck weather station, Greenland - minus 69.6 degrees Celsius

In the middle of Greenland, a lone weather station recorded the lowest temperature ever recorded in the northern hemisphere on December 22, 1991. That day, the temperature at the Klinck weather station dropped to minus 69.6 degrees Celsius.

The Klinck weather station sits at an altitude of 3,105 metres, close to the highest point of Greenland's Gunnbjorn mountain. Researchers working for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) found the record low temperature in 2007 while combing through 30 years of meteorological data archives. The WMO researchers published their findings in September 2020 in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.

The discovery beat the previous record for the coldest temperature ever recorded in the Northern Hemisphere. Before Klinck, the previous record low temperature was -67.8 degrees Celsius (-64.8 degrees Fahrenheit), recorded in Verkhoyansk in February 1892 and Oymyakon in January 1933. Both locations were in Russia.

What is the coldest city in the world?

Yakutsk, Russia - minus 80 F (minus 62.2 C)

Yakutsk is also the largest city built on permafrost.

Among the coldest cities in the world, Yakutsk is the coldest. On January 18, 2023, the Siberian city broke the record when the temperature dropped to -62.2 degrees Celsius.

Located just 450 km south of the Arctic Circle, Yakutsk is also the largest city built on permafrost. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Yakutsk was set on February 25, 1891, when it reached a low of -64.4 degrees Celsius.

The city of 250,000 people lies on the west bank of the Lena River, at an altitude of 95 meters above sea level. According to Russian meteorologists, in winter it is covered in fog due to the compression of frost. Fog forms because in cold conditions, heat from people, cars and buildings cannot rise.

Extreme cold and climate change

Scientists study extreme temperatures to better understand the Earth system as a whole. In particular, extremely cold temperatures can help scientists understand how the climate is currently trending toward warmer temperatures overall.

"I believe we have a lot to learn about climate change from extremely cold places," said Howard Diamond, a climate scientist at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In particular, knowing how cold the Earth can get allows scientists to track unusually warm periods. 'Having some regions record these cold temperatures doesn't take away from the fact that climate change is ongoing and the planet is continuing to warm,' Diamond said .