Rate the Climate: Vostok Station, Antarctica (snow, hot, warm, ice)

[JasonMath]

Let's see how many F's this climate gets...

Vostok Station is a Russian Antarctic research station. It is at the southern Pole of Cold, with the lowest reliably measured natural temperature on Earth of −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F). Research includes ice core drilling and magnetometry. Vostok (Russian for "East") is named after the ship of Fabian von Bellingshausen, an Antarctic pioneer.

Vostok is the World Pole of Cold. During the long winter, temperatures average about −65 °C (−85 °F); in the brief summer, about −30 °C (−25 °F). Vostok would also be classified as a polar desert, as it receives only 0.819 inches (20.8 millimetres) of precipitation per year.

Climate: Vostok Station - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This climate is bitterly cold all year round, and has very little precipitation. The occasionally high wind velocities would make the weather even more intolerable.

F

[deneb78]

F... even parts of Mars have better weather

[Lamplight]

I hate to give it an F, because it would be a really cool place to visit. But I know I couldn't take that climate for long. Well, unless I was doing research knowing I wouldn't be there forever.

[dunno what to put here]

LOL! I was going to do this, but I thought nah.. too obvious.

It has to be an F though, I'd probably even choose Singapore over this as the wind and -60c average temperatures at Vostok would be unbearable even for people from Yellowknife of Fairbanks. there's really no hot place on earth that can match the extremity of this place. I'd love to experience it though.. for a day or two.

[Derek40]

Somehow I think this will get even more F's than Melbourne!
The record high is only -12c, or 10F, colder than anything I have ever experienced by several degrees.
F - for what it's worth.

[ChesterNZ]

Candle, you gave this an 'A'? Seriously?

Five guesses as to what rating I'm giving!

A couple of photos:





I'm surprised they're so lightly dressed -- the guy in the first pic isn't even wearing gloves and he has his jacket unzipped!

[Desertstorm]

More than likely the worst climate on Earth. Yes, there are probably areas on Mars and even Melbourne which are actually warmer lol

A solid F.

[ben86]

Hehe, was waiting for this Winters must be unearthly bad but I bet the summers don't feel as cold as the stats suggest in the almost never-ending sunshine reflected off the snow, particularly when there's no wind. I can only imagine what the windchill is like when the wind does pick up though - funny how the site didn't give any data.

[dunno what to put here]

That's a good point Ben, I wonder what the sunshine totals are for this place.

[ben86]

Originally Posted by dunno what to put here

That's a good point Ben, I wonder what the sunshine totals are for this place.

Shame it doesn't give the figures for Vostok but the South Pole (actually a long way away) has 2938 hours, which is around Mediterranean standards. The 600 hours in November, though only 5/6 of possible, is amazing - I can't imagine anywhere gets more in a single month. Sun figures at Vostok will of course by 0 for months on end but with that latitude/altitude the extra refraction will give the Antarctic more total light hours than anywhere on Earth.

Look at this - wind chill of above -60C with wind speed under 55mph is apparently classified as "pleasant"
Climate of Antarctica - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia