Special Report

​Coldest Places in the World

John Harrington, Evan Comen

Published: November 8, 2018 4:35 pm

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 3:10 pm

With winter on its way and meteorologists warning of a renewed cold air, complete with winds and snow, hitting the Midwest and Northeast this weekend, we might find small comfort in the knowledge there are far colder places on Earth.

Those can be found on the tops of mountains or at research stations in Norway, Russia, Canada, and Antarctica.

The East Antarctic Plateau on the South Pole has had some of the coldest temperatures on the planet, and researchers have discovered why. To determine how cold it gets, scientists in a report from 2013 included the level of dryness in the atmosphere to their calculations because drier air causes snow cover to lose heat more quickly, according to lead study author Ted Scambos, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Canada has six of the coldest places in the world on our list, followed by five locations in Russia. The only continents not represented on the list are South America, Africa, and Australia.

As you might expect, the coldest places on the planet are remote and sparsely populated. Oymyakon, Russia, will never be mistaken for a summer getaway. The Siberian village is the coldest permanently inhabited place on Earth.

To identify the coldest places on Earth, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the average temperature of the 3 coldest months at 2,712 weather stations around the world in 2017. Weather station data was provided by The Global Historical Climatology Network-Monthly (GHCN-M) version 3, a program of the North Atlantic Atmospheric Association (NOAA). The average daily temperature for the coldest and warmest months at each station, as well as station elevation, also came from the NOAA. To avoid clustering of stations within the same climate regions, no stations within a 500-mile radius of one another were included. In a majority of cases, the names of weather stations were changed to better reflect their surrounding municipalities.

Click here to see the coldest places in the world.

40. Jönköping, Sweden
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 31.5 °F
> Coldest month: January (29.1 °F)
> Warmest month: July (59.2 °F)
> Elevation: 761 feet

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39. Warsaw, Poland
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 30.8 °F
> Coldest month: January (25.3 °F)
> Warmest month: August (67.5 °F)
> Elevation: 351 feet

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38. Akureyri, Iceland
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 30.3 °F
> Coldest month: December (28.6 °F)
> Warmest month: July (54.9 °F)
> Elevation: 88 feet

37. Tallinn, Estonia
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 30.2 °F
> Coldest month: February (27.9 °F)
> Warmest month: August (61.0 °F)
> Elevation: 144 feet

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36. Karlstad, Sweden
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 30.1 °F
> Coldest month: February (29.1 °F)
> Warmest month: July (61.0 °F)
> Elevation: 180 feet

35. Elbląg, Poland
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 30.1 °F
> Coldest month: January (26.4 °F)
> Warmest month: August (63.0 °F)
> Elevation: 141 feet

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34. Karkiškės, Lithuania
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 29.5 °F
> Coldest month: January (25.3 °F)
> Warmest month: August (63.3 °F)
> Elevation: 252 feet

33. Bend, Oregon, United States
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 29.4 °F
> Coldest month: January (23.8 °F)
> Warmest month: July (69.3 °F)
> Elevation: 3,661 feet

32. Bialystok, Poland
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 28.8 °F
> Coldest month: January (23.7 °F)
> Warmest month: August (63.7 °F)
> Elevation: 495 feet

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31. Vilnius, Lithuania
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 28.2 °F
> Coldest month: January (23.7 °F)
> Warmest month: August (63.3 °F)
> Elevation: 511 feet

30. Poltava, Poltava Oblast, Ukraine
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 27.9 °F
> Coldest month: January (21.4 °F)
> Warmest month: August (73.8 °F)
> Elevation: 524 feet

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29. Vasilievičy, Belarus
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 27.5 °F
> Coldest month: January (22.6 °F)
> Warmest month: August (67.1 °F)
> Elevation: 466 feet

28. Kharkiv, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 27.4 °F
> Coldest month: January (21.6 °F)
> Warmest month: August (74.3 °F)
> Elevation: 508 feet

27. Minsk, Belarus
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 27.0 °F
> Coldest month: January (21.7 °F)
> Warmest month: August (65.8 °F)
> Elevation: 758 feet

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26. Prins Christian Sund, Greenland
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 26.7 °F
> Coldest month: January (26.2 °F)
> Warmest month: July (43.7 °F)
> Elevation: 243 feet

25. Gardermoen, Norway
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 26.4 °F
> Coldest month: December (25.5 °F)
> Warmest month: July (59.9 °F)
> Elevation: 669 feet

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24. Crater Lake, Oregon, United States
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 25.5 °F
> Coldest month: January (22.7 °F)
> Warmest month: August (59.0 °F)
> Elevation: 6,476 feet

23. Voronezh, Russia
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 25.3 °F
> Coldest month: January (20.5 °F)
> Warmest month: August (70.9 °F)
> Elevation: 489 feet

22. Smolensk, Russia
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 24.7 °F
> Coldest month: January (19.4 °F)
> Warmest month: August (63.1 °F)
> Elevation: 784 feet

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21. Fokstumyra, Norway
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 22.0 °F
> Coldest month: December (20.5 °F)
> Warmest month: July (49.8 °F)
> Elevation: 3,195 feet

20. Gar Ngari, Tibet, China
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 18.3 °F
> Coldest month: January (14.7 °F)
> Warmest month: July (59.0 °F)
> Elevation: 14,038 feet

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19. Râșnov, Romania
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 15.1 °F
> Coldest month: January (9.0 °F)
> Warmest month: August (47.5 °F)
> Elevation: 8,231 feet

18. Kars Merkez/Kars, Turkey
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 13.3 °F
> Coldest month: January (6.4 °F)
> Warmest month: August (70.2 °F)
> Elevation: 5,823 feet

17. Fortin Sgto Cabral, Antarctica
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 13.1 °F
> Coldest month: June (12.6 °F)
> Warmest month: February (34.2 °F)
> Elevation: N/A

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16. Golmud, Haixi, Qinghai, China
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 11.2 °F
> Coldest month: January (6.3 °F)
> Warmest month: July (49.1 °F)
> Elevation: 14,878 feet

15. Mortschach, Austria
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 10.8 °F
> Coldest month: January (7.2 °F)
> Warmest month: August (40.8 °F)
> Elevation: 10,200 feet

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14. Klyuchi, Kamchatka Krai, Russia
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 9.2 °F
> Coldest month: January (-2.4 °F)
> Warmest month: July (60.6 °F)
> Elevation: 95 feet

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13. Naryn, Kyrgyzstan
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 8.1 °F
> Coldest month: January (-0.6 °F)
> Warmest month: July (64.9 °F)
> Elevation: 6,696 feet

12. Karasjok, Norway
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 7.8 °F
> Coldest month: December (4.3 °F)
> Warmest month: July (56.1 °F)
> Elevation: 436 feet

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11. Aasiaat, Greenland
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: 5.7 °F
> Coldest month: February (1.4 °F)
> Warmest month: July (43.3 °F)
> Elevation: 134 feet

10. Salekhard, Yamalo-Nenetskiy, Russia
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: -2.7 °F
> Coldest month: January (-9.9 °F)
> Warmest month: July (62.2 °F)
> Elevation: 52 feet

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9. Churchill, Manitoba, Canada
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: -8.2 °F
> Coldest month: December (-9.6 °F)
> Warmest month: July (57.9 °F)
> Elevation: 95 feet

8. Rock Creek, Yukon Territory, Canada
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: -10.2 °F
> Coldest month: January (-12.8 °F)
> Warmest month: July (63.3 °F)
> Elevation: 1,214 feet

7. Baie-James, Quebec, Canada
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: -11.0 °F
> Coldest month: February (-18.0 °F)
> Warmest month: September (36.0 °F)
> Elevation: N/A

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6. Coronation Gulf, Nunavut, Canada
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: -14.6 °F
> Coldest month: March (-20.2 °F)
> Warmest month: July (49.3 °F)
> Elevation: 89 feet

5. Coral Harbour, Nunavut, Canada
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: -16.3 °F
> Coldest month: February (-22.5 °F)
> Warmest month: July (48.9 °F)
> Elevation: 210 feet

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4. Nord, Greenland
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: -18.0 °F
> Coldest month: March (-21.1 °F)
> Warmest month: July (40.8 °F)
> Elevation: 112 feet

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3. Tosontsengel, Zavkhan Province, Mongolia
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: -18.3 °F
> Coldest month: January (-24.9 °F)
> Warmest month: July (62.8 °F)
> Elevation: 5,653 feet

2. Eureka, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: -29.2 °F
> Coldest month: March (-30.3 °F)
> Warmest month: July (45.0 °F)
> Elevation: 33 feet

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1. Oymyakon, Sakha Republic, Russia
> Avg. temperature of 3 coldest months: -47.0 °F
> Coldest month: January (-53.3 °F)
> Warmest month: July (56.3 °F)
> Elevation: 2,431 feet