Cold Places, Warm Spaces

You may want to huddle up in a blanket with hot cocoa before reading this entry so you don't get virtual frostbite just reading about this icy topic! I was having a discussion with Tami Jackson about cold temperatures. We were comparing Temperatures in Anchorage, Alaska to temperatures where I live in Brandon, Manitoba. Tami told me that she did not think that temperatures got to be -50 degrees Celsius in Anchorage so Manitoba was colder. This got me to thinking about cold temperatures. According to Tami the record for coldest recorded temperature in Anchorage is −38 °F (−38.9 °C) on February 3, 1947. Now I cannot find the record for Brandon, MB but I know in the past two years the temperature has gotten as low as -40 (which is the same in both Celsius and Fahrenheit). So maybe Brandon does get colder, but I was interested in the coldest temperatures in both Canada and the United States as well. First, I knew that Winnipeg, Manitoba which is a 2 and a half hour drive from Brandon is known to be one of the coldest cities in Canada. It has a record of −47.8 °C (−54.0 °F). However, it does not hold Canada's record breaking cold temperature. It doesn't even have the province of Manitoba's record temperature. That goes to Norway House. A temperature of -52.8°C (-63° F) was recorded there in 1899. The coldest temperature recorded in the USA is -79.8°F observed at Prospect Creek Camp in the Endicott Mountains of northern Alaska on Jan. 23, 1971. Canada can beat that! The coldest recorded temperature in Canada is -63 degrees Celsius (-81 degrees Fahrenheit). It was recorded at Snag in the Yukon territory on February 3rd, 1947.

Now for the world record... Scientists recorded the world's lowest temperature, -128.6 °F (-89.2 °C), at Vostok Station in Antarctica. I do not know the year but it replaced the existing record of -126.9 °F which was also recorded in Vostok on August 25, 1960! Now that's cold!

Although Brandon, MB was -34 degrees Celsius yesterday I feel some relief that it is not as cold as any of these temperatures! I am perfectly happy to snuggle up with some tea or hot cocoa and dream of spring!