If you are tired of the cold, we advise you to go to the Republic of Yakutia. It is likely that your concept of cold weather will completely change after that. The small town of Verkhoyansk is the coldest city in Russia. In January, –40 ° C is always stable here, and daylight hours last no more than 3 hours a day.
Where is the cold pole located?
Disputes over the coldest place in the Northern Hemisphere are between two settlements in Yakutia - the small town of Verkhoyansk and the village of Oymyakon. Nevertheless, Verkhoyansk bears the official status of the coldest place in the northern latitudes. In 1892, a record of low temperature was recorded here in Russia and throughout the Northern Hemisphere - -67.8 ° C. At the same time, according to unofficial observations in Oymyakon, –19.2 ° C was recorded in 1924. According to other unconfirmed reports in 1938 in this village, the temperature column dropped to –77.8 ° C.
It is also noteworthy that in the summer months in these settlements there is hot summer weather. For example, in Verkhoyansk a temperature of + 37.3 was recorded, and in Oimyakon - +34.6 .
Inaccessible Verkhoyansk
Only 1,200 people live in this small town, and in general it looks little like a city, but at the same time, Verkhoyansk does not lose its status. It was founded 375 years ago. The symbol of the city is the mammoth. Getting to the coldest city in Russia is pretty hard. In summer, there is no transport connection with the city - only an airplane. This is due primarily to the terrible state of local roads. Because of the dirt in the warm season, even KAMAZ trucks cannot drive along federal highways.
It is extremely disadvantageous to bring tourists here, since the costs of such an excursion are very high. The air ticket price is just space - 32,600 rubles per 1 hour and 50 minutes of flight. For comparison, we note that a ticket Moscow-Yakutsk costs 14,000 rubles for a full 6.5 hours of flight. To get to the coldest city in Russia, you need to fly by plane from Yakutsk to Batagai, and from there you will have to take a taxi for another 2 hours. In addition, free seats for this flight are not always available. Since the collapse of the USSR, the local airport has been closed and has no plans to break away.
The main street of the city is Novodvorova Street. In Verkhoyansk there is a small lake Baykhal. The Yana River fills it with water. The town houses the Museum of the Pole of Cold. Since 1917, the coldest city in Russia has been a place for exile. The local population is engaged in animal husbandry and fur trade (squirrel, sable, Arctic fox).
Indigenous residents of Verkhoyansk every day come to grips with extreme weather conditions. The basis of the diet is meat and fat. A liter of gasoline costs 45 rubles here, and transport in cold weather is not jammed at all, since there is a high probability that it will no longer start. People begin to stock up with drinking water in October, when the ice on the river is not very thick and can be easily cut. Local residents say that they begin to freeze only when the temperature reaches -55 ° C.
The harsh capital of Yakutia
Another city in which record low temperatures are observed is Yakutsk. It is a remote settlement located on the Lena River in Eastern Siberia. The city was founded in 1632. The distance from it to Irkutsk is 1849 km, to Moscow - more than 5000 km. The population of Yakutsk is approximately 270,000 thousand people.
Local residents experience all the hardships of extreme temperatures every day. In winter, it stays stable at –40 ° C, but sometimes the temperature drops to –64 ° C. It is also noteworthy that in summer the temperature often rises to +30 ° C. This almost the coldest city in Russia often obscures a thick fog.
Yakutsk is considered the most important diamond mining center. A fifth of all diamonds in the world are mined here. The city is also engaged in logging, production of building materials, food industry, etc. In the capital of Yakutia is the Institute of Permafrost. In this institution, they study frozen soils and issue approvals for the construction of structures on such soil.
Causes of abnormal cold
Such temperature jumps can be easily explained. The blame for the sharply continental climate of the region. This type of climate is found only in the northern latitudes, since in the southern hemisphere at the same latitude the land as such is absent. In this regard, the coldest cities in Russia are located in Yakutia.