When planning a trip, do you look for temperate, tropical climates, or do you opt for more frigid, icy conditions? Cold places where you pack parkas to walk outside and spend much of your sightseeing swathed in wool blankets and cloaks, only your eyes peeking out into the freezing atmosphere. Here are ten of the chilliest vacation spots to check out.
1. Vostok Station, Antartica
The coldest recorded temperature at Vostok Station occurred in 1983. Thermometers relayed a whopping -128.56° Fahrenheit in the middle of July. The Soviet Union constructed this South Pole destination in 1957 for meteorologists and scientists to study the Earth’s climate.
2. Eastern Antarctic Plateau
A recent study from NASA surfaced in July, stating the Eastern Antarctic Plateau is the coldest place on Earth, clocking in at -144° Fahrenheit. The plateau existing so close to the south pole and having such a high elevation prevents the climate from adjusting between frigid temperatures, maintaining a freezing, harsh environment year-round.
3. North Ice, Greenland
North Ice Greenland used to be a research station from the British North Greenland Expedition between 1952 and 1954, but today, the location harbors a lengthy sheet of ice that rarely exceeds zero degrees Fahrenheit. The coldest calculated temperature was -93° Fahrenheit in 1991, but the temperature stays around -50° Fahrenheit.
4. Oymyakon, Russia
Oymyakon is a rural village in Russia nestled along the Indigirka River, and the average temperature measures -58° Fahrenheit. Residents have to use outdoor restrooms, considering indoor plumbing freezes, and they eat a ton of meat since the ground freezes, preventing crops from growing.
5. Snag, Canada
This village on the outskirts of Alaska rose to prominence during the Klondike Gold Rush. Snag became inhabited years later, but residents admitted they could hear conversations miles away due to the harsh, wintry air, and if they exhaled outside, their breath froze mid-sentence. The coldest recorded temperature occurred in 1947 at -63° Fahrenheit.
6. Denali, Alaska
The highest mountain peak in the U.S. stands at 20,310 feet above sea level. The coldest tracked temperature happened in 2003 at the summit, a bitter -73° Fahrenheit. This Alaskan paradise allows visitors to revel in an uninterrupted look at the Aurora borealis. Weather flickers between -40° Fahrenheit and 20° Fahrenheit.
7. Verkhoyansk, Russia
Verkhoyansk’s population depletes yearly thanks to the piercing climate. The winter temperature reaches below -50° Fahrenheit, while the summertime actually sees glimpses of heat, soaring to 80° Fahrenheit. This Russian city recorded its lowest temperature, -89 degrees Fahrenheit, in 1892 and 1933,
8. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital in the world, with an average temperature of 32° Fahrenheit. Meteorologists reported the coldest temperature at -47° Fahrenheit. Ulaanbaatar stands miles away from any sight of water to regulate the temperature, creating a crisp, landlocked climate that houses a million residents.
9. Fairbanks, Alaska
Fairbanks is the coldest city in the U.S., with an average temperature of -17° Fahrenheit and the lowest recorded temperature of -66° Fahrenheit. Here’s another Alaskan spot to keep an eye out for the glorious Northern Lights, as long as you have your parka and blankets.
10. Mohe, China
Also called China’s North Pole, Mohe welcomed its lowest recorded temperature, -63° Fahrenheit, earlier this year. China’s Northernmost city has a subarctic climate that averages a temperature of -18° Fahrenheit in the winter months.
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