Cold pole

From Glossary of Meteorology



cold pole

The location that has the lowest annual mean temperature in its hemisphere.

In the Northern Hemisphere the cold pole is usually placed at Verkhoiansk in Siberia (67°33′N, 133°24′E) with an annual mean temperature of -16°C (3°F) [January: -50°C (-59°F), July: 16°C (60°F)], but the country around Verkhoiansk is very mountainous, and lower winter temperatures are found in some of the valleys. At Oimekon, for example, the average January temperature is probably below -51°C (-60°F). In the Southern Hemisphere the cold pole is near 80°–85°S and 75°–90°E. International Geophysical Year stations located inland on Antarctica have recorded several temperatures well below -73°C (-100°F).


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