Vostok records minus 89.2 degrees Celsius
The lowest air temperature reliably measured at the surface of the Earth is recorded at Vostok Station on the East Antarctic plateau in midwinter. The value stands as the accepted record; satellite-derived snow-surface temperatures near minus 98 degrees Celsius reported later are a different measurement of a different quantity and do not replace it.
Observed — measured or witnessed, with the observation cited.
Subjects
- Vostok Station · research facility · operated by Russia; within the Australian claim, which Article IV neither recognises nor denies
- Antarctica · region · Antarctic
Evidence
Partly verified — Core facts are sourced; some optional detail is deliberately absent. This is the standing of the weakest source, not an average.
WMO Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes - lowest recorded surface air temperature
The lowest air temperature reliably measured at the surface of the Earth is minus 89.2 degrees Celsius, recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica, on 21 July 1983. V55 VERIFICATION BASIS: the archive was not opened during production; no research channel was available. The value and date rest on the producer's prior knowledge and should be confirmed against the WMO archive entry.
World Meteorological Organization · record set 1983-07-21; archive maintained continuously · Partly verified
WMO Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes, https://wmo.asu.edu/ - lowest temperature recorded at the Earth's surface, Vostok Station, Antarctica
Ultralow surface temperatures in East Antarctica from satellite thermal infrared mapping
Satellite thermal infrared mapping identified snow-surface temperatures approaching minus 98 degrees Celsius in shallow topographic hollows on the East Antarctic plateau under clear, dry, calm conditions. This is a snow skin temperature measured from orbit and is not equivalent to a screened air temperature at a station, so it does not supersede the Vostok air-temperature record. V55 VERIFICATION BASIS: not opened during production; no research channel was available. The value is quoted approximately and the DOI must be confirmed before publication.
Geophysical Research Letters (AGU); Scambos and colleagues · 2018 · Partly verified
Geophysical Research Letters, vol. 45 (2018); doi:10.1029/2018GL078133
Recorded on Vostok Station
- The International Geophysical Year puts twelve nations on the ice at once
- The Antarctic Treaty is signed at Washington
- The continuous satellite sea-ice record begins
- Vostok records minus 89.2 degrees Celsius
- Antarctic sea ice reaches a record low, a year after the previous one
- The Madrid Protocol becomes open to a review conference
Related
Related because they share a subject in the Atlas — never because the text looks similar.
- The Madrid Protocol becomes open to a review conference · 2048 (earliest possible review)
- Antarctic sea ice reaches a record low, a year after the previous one · 2023-02
- The continuous satellite sea-ice record begins · 1979
- The Antarctic Treaty is signed at Washington · 1959-12-01
- The International Geophysical Year puts twelve nations on the ice at once · 1957-07 / 1958-12