Oymyakon
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Oymyakon (Russian: Оймяко́н, Sakha: Өймөкөөн) is a village (selo) in Oymyakonsky Ulus of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located along the Indigirka River, 30 kilometers (20 mi) northwest of Tomtor on the Kolyma Highway. The population is 521.[citation needed]
Oymyakon is known as one of the candidates for the Northern Pole of Cold, because on January 26, 1926, a temperature of −71.2 °C (−96.2 °F) was recorded there (however, this fact is arguable because the temperature was not directly measured but obtained by extrapolation).[citation needed] This is the lowest recorded temperature for any permanently inhabited location on Earth. It is also the lowest temperature recorded in the Northern hemisphere, except for an unofficial lowest recorded temperature of −77.5 °C (−107.5 °F) at Mount Logan in the Yukon, Canada[dubious ][citation needed]. Only Antarctica has recorded lower official temperatures with the lowest being −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) near the Russian station of Vostok. The actual weather station is in a valley between Oymyakon and Tomtor. The station is at 750m and the surrounding mountains at 1,100 meters, causing cold air to pool in the valley.
Its name in the Sakha language means "non-freezing water"; due to the presence of a natural hot spring nearby. The ground there is permanently frozen.[citation needed]
Oymyakon has also been featured in at least two TV series—in the episode "The Winter's Tale" of the 1996 PBS weather documentary series Savage Skies and in Oxford geographer Nick Middleton's television series and accompanying book Going to Extremes, in which he discusses his visit to this village and describes ways in which inhabitants cope with the extreme cold. Middleton describes how Oymyakon lies between two mountain ranges, trapping cold air in between throughout the entire year.[1] Extreme cold temperatures are frequently recorded during winter months in Oymyakon, with temperatures regularly dropping below −40 °C (−40 °F). In 2008, temperatures were observed well below this temperature, with −60.2 °C (−76.4 °F) recorded on both the 19th of January and 22nd of December.
Contents |
[edit] Climate
| Weather data for Oymyakon | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | -16.6 (2) |
-16.2 (3) |
2.0 (36) |
11.7 (53) |
26.2 (79) |
31.1 (88) |
32.6 (91) |
31.4 (89) |
23.7 (75) |
11.0 (52) |
-2.1 (28) |
-6.5 (20) |
32.6 (91) |
| Average high °C (°F) | -42.0 (-44) |
-35.4 (-32) |
-21.8 (-7) |
-3.9 (25) |
8.8 (48) |
19.7 (67) |
22.3 (72) |
18.2 (65) |
8.6 (47) |
-9.6 (15) |
-32.3 (-26) |
-42.2 (-44) |
-8.5 (17) |
| Average low °C (°F) | -49.8 (-58) |
-47.7 (-54) |
-41.2 (-42) |
-24.3 (-12) |
-5.1 (23) |
3.4 (38) |
5.6 (42) |
2.0 (36) |
-4.5 (24) |
-21.1 (-6) |
-41.1 (-42) |
-49.0 (-56) |
-22.7 (-9) |
| Record low °C (°F) | -65.4 (-86) |
-64.6 (-84) |
-60.6 (-77) |
-46.4 (-52) |
-28.9 (-20) |
-9.7 (15) |
-9.3 (15) |
-17.1 (1) |
-25.3 (-14) |
-47.6 (-54) |
-58.5 (-73) |
-62.8 (-81) |
-65.4 (-86) |
| Rainfall mm (inches) | 8 (0.31) |
7 (0.28) |
5 (0.2) |
5 (0.2) |
12 (0.47) |
34 (1.34) |
48 (1.89) |
38 (1.5) |
22 (0.87) |
16 (0.63) |
12 (0.47) |
8 (0.31) |
215 (8.46) |
| Source: Погода и Климат[2] Dec 2008 | |||||||||||||
[edit] References
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Погода и Климат - Климат Оймякона" (in ru). http://pogoda.ru.net/climate/24688.htm. Retrieved Dec 8 2008.
[edit] External links
- Oymyakon 1996/97 Expedition
- Oymyakon 2008/09 Expedition
- Video report from SkyNews
- Life in Oymyakon. AskYakutia.com
[edit] Further reading
- Middleton, Nick Going to Extremes: Mud, Sweat and Frozen Tears.
- Channel 4 books, 2001, hardcover, ISBN 0-7522-2016-0
- Pan Books - Macmillan UK, 2003, paperback, ISBN 0-330-49384-1.
Coordinates: 63°27′39″N 142°47′09″E / 63.46083°N 142.78583°E
