V 



Figure 3-1 2. — Coldest recorded temperature. 



the hills so that more than three-fourths of the arctic lands are 

 comparatively free of snow at all seasons. 



Next, considering the intense cold, it has been shown that tem- 

 peratures below minus 60^ F. are not possible at the North Pole, 

 lying as it does at the center of a deep basin. At Herschel Island, 

 off the north coast of Canada, the absolute minimum over a long 

 period has been minus 54°. The lowest official temperature ever 

 recorded in North America, minus 78.5° F., was registered at 

 Fort Good Hope, several hundred miles to the south. Even at 

 Havre, Mont., an extreme temperature of minus 68° F. or 8° F. 

 colder than is theoretically possible at the North Pole, has been 

 recorded. The coldest observed temperature on the surface of the 

 earth was recorded at Verkhoyansk, near the Arctic Circle in 

 eastern Siberia, well over 1,500 miles from the geographic pole. 

 Until a few years ago this station enjoyed the doubtful honor of 

 experiencing colder winter weather than any other known place 

 in the world. Theoretically only the South Pole is colder. In 

 1929 a station was opened in the Oimekon River district, some 

 400 miles southeast of Verkhoyansk, and from the brief record 

 available it is noted that the winter temperatures have consistently 



122 



