Welcome to Oymyakon, a village where students are expected to attend class till temperatures reach minus -52°C (-62°F). The remote Siberian village is considered to be the coldest permanently inhabited settlement in the world, and it has just plummeted into a -62°C (-80°F) winter, making our daily complaints about the weather sound rather silly.
We already introduced you this place when a photographer Amos Chapple traveled there to brave the freeze. “I was wearing thin trousers when I first stepped outside into -47°C (-52°F),” Chapple said. “I remember feeling like the cold was physically gripping my legs, the other surprise was that occasionally my saliva would freeze into needles that would prick my lips.”
This time, however, the cold is even stronger, not only gripping legs but turning people’s eyelashes into icicles as well. The official weather station at the ‘pole of cold’ registered -59°C (-74°F), but the new electronic thermometer claimed the weather was -62°C (-80°F). In fact, it even stopped working after reaching the painful mark. Some of the 500 locals go beyond that, claiming the temperatures are as low as -68°C (-90°F).
In the 1920s and 1930s, Oymyakon was a stopover for reindeer herders who would water their flocks from the thermal spring. In attempts to force its nomadic population into putting down roots, the Soviet government later transformed the site into a permanent settlement. In 1933, a temperature of -67.7°C (−89.9°F) was recorded in the village, accepted as the lowest ever in the Northern Hemisphere.
(h/t siberiantimes)
Welcome to Oymyakon, a remote Siberian village which is considered to be the coldest permanently inhabited settlement in the world
The temperature there has just plummeted to a chilling -62°C (-80°F)
In the village, however, the cold that could freeze your eyeballs hasn’t stopped life
Except for local students who are expected to attend class till temperatures reach at least minus -52°C (-62°F)
And, believe it or not, people are still going to work
Street venders have no need to refrigerate their fish as the air temperature is enough to keep them safe from rotting away
They do, however, need to keep themselves as warm as possible
Some tourists that visit Oymyakon are as extreme as its weather
Photographers try using the cold in creative ways: “I really did take pictures of the ballerina outside in minus 41°C, and it’s not photoshopped”
The village lies in Oymyakonsky District of the Sakha Republic, Russia
It is named after the Oymyakon River, whose name reportedly comes from the Even word kheium, meaning “unfrozen patch of water; place where fish spend the winter”
According to other sources, however, the Even word heyum (hэjум) (kheium may be a misspelling) means “frozen lake”
The painful weather was too much even for the new electronic thermometer. It broke after reaching -62°C
But about 500 people still live in the village
It stands approximately 750 meters above sea level
“Now we’re brushing the snow off our Yakut horses. For us this is normal”, told one resident of the village
People have nicknamed this chilling place as the Northern Pole of Cold
And although winters in Oymyakon are long and excessively cold
Summers can sometimes become hot. In June, July and August temperatures over 30 °C (86 °F) are not rare
In the 1920s and 1930s, Oymyakon was a stopover for reindeer herders who would water their flocks from the spring
But in attempts to force its nomadic population into putting down roots, the Soviets later transformed the site into a permanent settlement
Recently, someone even captured a cyclist braving a -48°C cold in the nearby Yakutsk city
The cold does, however, make the whole village look like a winter wonderland
It’s not everyday you’ll see such beauty in a mine tunnel
In 1933, a temperature of -67.7°C (−89.9°F) was recorded in the village, accepted as the lowest ever in the Northern Hemisphere
There, day length varies from three hours in December to twenty-one hours in June
So you’ll have to be quick if you want to go sightseeing in the winter
And while the locals are still going on about their daily lives
Some have gotten these icy lashes that are perfectly worthy of becoming the newest beauty trend
