What is the coldest temperature ever recorded in Antarctica?

The official WMO surface station record is -89.2°C (-128.6°F), recorded at Vostok Station on 21 July 1983. A satellite measurement detected -94.7°C on the East Antarctic Plateau in 2010, but this is a surface skin temperature reading rather than a standard meteorological air temperature.

Has Antarctica ever recorded a temperature above 20°C?

Yes. On 9 February 2020, Seymour Island on the Antarctic Peninsula recorded 20.75°C (69.4°F), the first time Antarctica officially exceeded 20°C. The reading was verified by the WMO. The Antarctic Peninsula has warmed roughly 3°C since 1950.

Why is Commonwealth Bay in Antarctica so windy?

Commonwealth Bay at Cape Denison experiences katabatic winds that drain cold, dense air off the high polar plateau and are funnelled through the bay's coastal terrain. Douglas Mawson's 1911-1914 expedition documented a mean annual wind speed of around 70 km/h, making it the windiest sea-level location on Earth.

Antarctica

Antarctica holds records no other continent can match. The coldest temperatures ever measured on Earth's surface, the most persistent extreme winds, and an interior so hostile that it remains the least-understood weather system on the planet.

Coldest Temperatures

LOWEST AIR TEMPERATURE (WMO RECORD)

-89.2°C

-128.6°F

Vostok Station

Antarctica · 21 July 1983

WMO-recognised world record. Vostok sits at 3,488m on the Antarctic plateau. The combination of elevation, latitude and the polar vortex creates conditions unlike anywhere else on Earth. The station has been operated by Russia since 1957.

INTERIOR PLATEAU COLD

-67.3°C

-89.1°F

Kohnen Station

Antarctica

One of the coldest automatic weather station readings from the interior plateau. The Antarctic high plateau sees temperatures below -60°C for months at a time during the polar winter.

SURFACE SKIN TEMPERATURE (SATELLITE)

-94.7°C

-138.5°F

East Antarctic Plateau

Antarctica · August 2010

Detected by NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites during clear-sky polar nights. Not a WMO surface station record -- satellite thermal sensors measure surface skin temperature differently from standard meteorological thermometers.

Warmest Temperatures

HIGHEST TEMPERATURE (WMO VERIFIED)

20.75°C

69.4°F · First time Antarctica exceeded 20°C

Seymour Island

Antarctic Peninsula · 9 February 2020

The first time Antarctica officially exceeded 20°C. WMO-verified. The Antarctic Peninsula has warmed faster than almost anywhere else on Earth over the past 50 years -- roughly 3°C since 1950.

FORMER RECORD CONTENDER

19.8°C

67.6°F

Signy Island

South Atlantic · 30 January 1982

Previously cited as a contender for the Antarctic temperature record. Signy Island lies in the Scotia Sea, well north of the Antarctic Circle but south of the Antarctic Convergence.

Wind

WINDIEST PLACE AT SEA LEVEL

~240 km/h

~150 mph gusts · Mean annual ~70 km/h

Cape Denison (Commonwealth Bay)

George V Land, Antarctica · Documented from 1912

Douglas Mawson's 1911-1914 expedition documented Commonwealth Bay as the windiest place at sea level on Earth. Katabatic winds funnel off the polar plateau through the bay's terrain with exceptional consistency.

EXTREME KATABATIC GUSTS

300+ km/h

Recorded at automatic weather stations

Various plateau stations

Antarctica

Extreme katabatic events on the plateau have been recorded exceeding 300 km/h at automatic weather stations. Antarctica's katabatic wind system -- cold, dense air draining off the high plateau -- is one of the most powerful on Earth.

Precipitation

ANNUAL PRECIPITATION (INTERIOR)

~166 mm

6.5 inches per year · A polar desert

South Pole Station

Antarctica

The Antarctic interior is technically one of the world's largest deserts -- annual precipitation equivalent is less than the Sahara in many areas. The ice sheet exists because snowfall has accumulated over millions of years, not because it snows heavily.