Photographs: Alexey Ekaikin/Handout/Reuters
A blast of Arctic air gripped the United States with the coldest temperatures in two decades bringing life to a standstill. With temperatures as low as minus 51 degrees Celsius, the National Weather Service issued warnings for life-threatening wind chills in western and central North Dakota.
As the savage Arctic blast threatens the coldest weather in the United States, Rediff.com looks at some of the coldest places in the world with record-setting low temperatures.
Vostok, Antarctica (-89.2 degree C)
Currently holding the world record for the lowest temperature ever directly recorded at ground level on Earth is -89.2 C at the Soviet Vostok Station in Antarctica, on July 21, 1983.
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Mount McKinley, Alaska (-73.8 degree C)
Photographs: National Park Service/Handout/Reuters
The highest peak in North America, Mount McKinley is considered the coldest mountain on earth.
In winter the air temperatures fall to -40 degree C.
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Klinck research station, Greenland (-69.4 degree C)
Photographs: NASA/Handout/Reuters
Located within the Arctic Circle the Klinck research station recorded temperatures as low as -69.4 degree C.
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Verkhoyansk, Russia (-67.778 degree C)
Photographs: NASA/Handout/Reuters
Mean monthly temperatures in this region of Russia stay below freezing from October through April. In 1892, an all-time low of minus -67.778 degree C was recorded.
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Oymyakon, Russia (-67.7 degree C)
Photographs: Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
On Febraury 6, 1933, Oymyakon, Russia recorded -67.7C.
Oymyakon is known as one of the candidates for the Northern Pole of Cold. The ground there is permanently frozen (continuous permafrost).
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North Ice, Greenland (-66 degree C)
Photographs: NASA/Reuters
A research station of the British North Greenland Expedition (1952 to 1954) on the inland ice of Greenland, North Ice recorded the lowest temperature of - 66 degree C ever in North America on January 9, 1954.
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Yakutsk, Russia (-64.4 degree C)
Photographs: Viktor Everstov/Reuters
Yakutsk, the largest city built on continuous permafrost, in the month of February 1891 experienced temperatures that dipped to as low as -64.4 degree C.
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Snag, Yukon, Canada (-63 degree C)
Photographs: Sean Kilpatrick/Reuters
Snag is located in southwest Yukon near the Alaska Highway holds the record for the lowest recorded temperature in Canada with a low of -63 degree C recorded on February 3, 1947.
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Barrow, Alaska
Photographs: NASA/Handout/Reuters
Just 1,300 miles south of the North Pole and 320 miles north of the Arctic Circle, Barrow is the northernmost city in the United States. The small city of 4,581 experiences super cold and windy winters.
The sun sets at the end of November and doesn't reappear until the end of January.
The mean temperature doesn't break out of freezing until June and even then only barely does -- the average mean for July is only 4.6667 degree C.
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