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Village Thermometer In 'Coldest Village On Earth' Breaks Due To Temperature Drop

Village Thermometer In 'Coldest Village On Earth' Breaks Due To Temperature Drop

The village of Oymyakon is the coldest permanently inhabited settlement on Earth, but its giant thermometer still broke due to the cold.

Mischa Pearlmen

Mischa Pearlmen

It seems every day that something gets written about how cold it is outside, but that's because, even if it isn't snowing and freezing over here, it's damn bloody cold.

Where it has been snowing and freezing over, however, is in Siberia, namely in the remote village of Oymyakon.

The official weather station at the self-proclaimed 'pole of cold' only registered minus 59C, but locals have reported readings as low as minus 67C, reports the Daily Mail.

That's less than 1C off the lowest ever recorded temperature - minus 67.7C - for a permanent settlement, which was taken in the very same town back in 1933.

East2West

The village's giant thermometer - which was installed last year - displayed a temperature of minus 62C, but then stopped working because it was too cold. It's estimated, however, that the temperature was a good few degrees colder.

Oymyakon is the coldest permanently inhabited settlement in the world, with a population of 500 people who endure an average temperature in January of minus 50C.

In the 1920s and 1930s, the town was a stopover for reindeer herders who would water their flocks from the village's thermal spring. That gave rise to the village's name, which translates to 'the water that doesn't freeze'.

In later years, the Soviet government made Oymyakon a permanent settlement in an attempt to make its nomadic population less nomadic, though fuck knows why anybody would want to stay somewhere that gets so cold.

East2West

By all accounts, beyond risking your fingers and toes and nose freezing off - and ice forming on your bloody eyelashes - there are other day-to-day problems that come from living in such a cold place.

These include, but are surely not limited to, glasses freezing to people's faces, which sounds immensely painful and unpleasant, pen ink freezing and batteries losing power.

Maarten Takens/Flickr

But that's not all. Locals often have to leave their cars running all day, otherwise they might not be able to restart them.

And when somebody dies, the rock solid earth of the village means it has to be thawed with a bonfire for a few hours before digging can begin. The process of digging a deep enough grave takes several days. No thank you very much.

Featured Image Credit: Maarten Takens/Flickr

Topics: Weather, World News, Russia