Coldest Place on Earth Is Colder Than We Knew

Because cold air is dense, it funnels into the dips where it may stay trapped for several days when skies are clear and winds are light. This is similar to how cold air drains into valley locations at night elsewhere in the world. Satellites sensed that within this area about 100 locations had surface temperatures fall to minus 144 degrees Fahrenheit from 2004-2016. Minus 144 degrees Fahrenheit is about the coldest temperatures can plunge on Earth, researchers said. Minus 128.6 degrees Fahrenheit was observed on July 21, 1983.

The Coldest Place on Earth Is Nearing The Ultimate Limits of Our Planet

A new study of satellite data reports that valleys in Antarctica's ice sheets can reach close to minus 100 degrees Celsius (or minus 148 degrees Fahrenheit). Very chilly then, and significantly below the previous record of minus 93 degrees Celsius (minus 135 degrees Fahrenheit) observed in the same area. That honour goes to researchers at Russia's Vostok Station, also on the East Antarctic Plateau, who gauged the temperature as minus 89 degrees Celsius (minus 128 degrees Fahrenheit) in July 1983. Weather stations can log conditions exactly as they are, but satellites can cover much greater areas around the clock. Extremely dry, extremely cold air sinks into the ice pockets and the air gets colder still, until weather conditions change.

The Coldest Place on Earth Is Even Colder Than Scientists Thought

referring to The Coldest Place on Earth Is Even Colder Than Scientists ThoughtSummer at Vostok Station in Antarctica is still plenty cold, but winter atop the East Antarctic Plateau is as cold as it gets on Earth. [In Photos: The Coldest Places on Earth]On ice-covered Antarctica, the average temperature during the dark winter months is around minus 30 degrees F (minus 34.4 degrees C). For the new study, scientists analyzed data collected during July and August between 2004 and 2016. In 2013 and in the new study, researchers calibrated the same satellite measurements of surface temperatures with data collected from weather stations on Antarctica's surface. The same spots on the plateau that were previously identified as the coldest on Earth were still the coldest — only more so, by about 9 degrees F (5 degrees C), the study found.

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