Summer is finally almost over – that hot, scorching sun will be taking a step back and we can begin to breathe easy knowing cooler times are on their way. While it might seem like a good idea to visit some of the world’s coldest places during the summer, intense cold weather can be just as infuriating. Some of the coldest places in the world – Greenland, Russia, Antarctica – have recorded temperatures so low that visiting such places should immediately be called into question, at least during certain times of the year.
# Prospect Creek – Alaska, USAAlaska is definitely one of the coldest places in the United States, and Prospect Creek specifically is pretty chilly. Prospect Creek has a sub-arctic sort of weather, which means that winters last for a long period of time and summers are very short. Due to the area being less populated than it perhaps has been in the past, blistering cold weather has become especially harsh. A record low temperature of -80 °F was reported in Prospect Creek, making it absolutely one of the coldest places on Earth.
# Snag – Yukon, CanadaThe village of Snag not only has a very cool name, but it is also located on a little slice of dry-weather sideroad in Yukon, Canada. I don’t know how Canadians can be such nice, cheery people in such freezing, miserable weather. The atmosphere is indeed ice cold, with January being the absolute coldest month; the lowest temperature that was recorded in the area is -81.4 °F. If you ever find yourself in this part of Canada, you better snag yourself quite a few layers of clothing.
# Eismitte – GreenlandThe name Eismitte says it all, since its original German meaning is “Ice-Center.” Ice can be found all over this area; being on the interior Arctic side of Greenland, it’s also garnered such colorful nicknames as “Mid-Ice” or “Center-Ice.” The coldest temperature recorded in Eismitte during an expedition was -85 °F.
# North Ice – GreenlandNorth Ice used to be a research station belonging to the British North Greenland Expedition, and it is currently the fifth coldest place in the world. The lowest temperature recorded here is -87.0 °F back in January of 1954. The Greenland ice sheet spreads itself over nearly 85 percent of the land surface of the island, and on average it rises to the height of about 1.6 miles.
# Oymyakon – RussiaWith an extreme subarctic climate, Oymyakon has an incredibly harsh, freezing climate, with the ground being permanently frozen. In the mid-1920s, a Russian scientist by the name of Sergey Obrychev recorded the lowest temperature as -96.2 °F at the weather station in Oymyakon. This is the absolute coldest temperature for any inhabited location on the planet.