Brr! Here’s where scientists recorded the coldest weather

For those who live in the country’s northernmost states, it may seem like your own backyard is the coldest place on Earth during the winter.

Known in the U.S. for the year’s lowest temperatures, winter has become the fastest warming season for most of the country, a report from Climate Central finds. About 70% of states have seen average winter temperature increases of three degrees or more since 1970.

Learn more about where the coldest place on the Earth is, and see if your town makes it on the list of coldest places in the nation.

What is the lowest temperature ever recorded?

The world record for the lowest temperature recorded is -128.6 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the World Meteorological Organization. The temperature was recorded on July 21, 1983, in Vostok, Antarctica and confirmed by the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute in Russia.

The Vostok station is one of the most remote research stations in the world and operates on about 2.3 miles of ice.

The previous record for the lowest temperature recorded was at the Vostok Foreign Branch in 1968: -127 degrees.

But while Vostok’s measurements are touted as the coldest air temperature recorded, a group of scientists measured even colder temperatures on the East Antarctic Plateau from 2004 to 2016 using satellite data. According to the study, published in Geophysical Research Letters, scientists saw snow surface temperatures lower than -130 degrees, the lowest being around -144 degrees.

What is the coldest place on Earth?

You guessed it — Antarctica is the coldest continent. In addition to boasting the world’s lowest recorded temperatures, it’s also the windiest and driest continent. Antarctica’s temperatures range from 14 degrees near the coast to -76 degrees at elevated parts of the continent’s interior.

Antarctica does not have permanent residents, but an estimated 5,000 research scientists work there in the summer months.

What is the highest temperature ever recorded?

The official record for the hottest weather on Earth comes from Death Valley, California, where temperatures reached 134 degrees in July 1913.

What is the coldest place in the U.S.?

The nation’s hottest spot is Death Valley California, which hit 124 degrees in September 2022.

The coldest place in the U.S., according to Almanac’s analysis of lowest mean annual temperature, is Utqiagvik, Alaska. Utqiagvik is the northernmost community in the United States and has a population of 5,000. Its mean annual temperature is 11.7 degrees.

The top 5 coldest cities in the U.S. with a population of at least 10,000, ranked by mean annual temperature:

1. Fairbanks, Alaska: 27.6 degrees

2. Duluth, Minnesota: 39.6 degrees

3. Grand Forks, North Dakota: 39.8 degrees

4. Williston, North Dakota: 41.5 degrees

5. Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan: 41.7 degrees