If you’ve been paying attention to the weather lately, you know that it is pretty damn cold.
The Northeast of the United States was recently hit with a “bomb cyclone” and everyone lost their damn minds when 12 to 24 inches of snow touched down in different areas.
A bomb cyclone, also known as explosive cyclogenesis or bombogenesis, “refers in a strict sense to a rapidly deepening extratropical cyclonic low-pressure area.”
While Northeast U.S. residents might have thought that was insane, that seems like nothing compared to the weather in Oymyakon where it has been between -56°F and -76°F.
Oymyakon is a rural town in the Oymyakonsky District of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located along the Indigirka River. It is a small town, with only 500 inhabitants and one local store.
The town is known for being very, very cold. While it isn’t the coldest place (that chilly honor goes to Norilsk), it is one of the most frigid places on Earth. It does hold the title of being the coldest area inhabited by humans, though.
Temperatures don’t often get out of the single digits and instead plummet into the negative numbers, reaching as low as -76°F, with a record low of -98°F in 2013.
For most of us, we try to avoid leaving our homes when it is below freezing, but the residents of Oymyakon have to live their daily lives.
It is so cold in Oymyakon, people’s eyelashes are freezing on their faces! It sounds pretty painful, but photos of frozen eyelashes have now gone viral online and they look incredible.
The schools are typically still open during the winter (when it is in the -40°Fs), but recently closed when the temperatures dipped even further.
During the winter, Oymyakon is dark for nearly 21 hours a day. Can you imagine only seeing three hours of sunlight each day? I think I’d move for that reason alone!
The annual average temperature for Oymyakon is only 4°F. But during their summer, things can really hit up and reach the 50°Fs.
January is their coldest month, which makes sense as to why the rural area is currently in the news. And their hottest month, A.K.A. summer, is July. Just like the U.S., just with a huge difference in temperatures!
The settlement in Russia’s Yakutia region is so close to the Arctic Circle, it is 500 miles away from the nearest city, Yakutsk.
Tourists do travel to the area to see if they’re able to handle the intense cold weather. Would you ever be able to live somewhere as cold as Oymyakon?
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