Submitted by Katie Breen on Sat, 03/24/2007 - 16:50
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Antarctic Weather Stations

What is the coldest temperature ever recorded in Antarctica?

 

Tue, 03/27/2007 - 20:05

Kirk Beckendorf

Hi Katie, 
From what I can find it seems that the coldest temperature ever recorded in Antarctica (and on Earth) was at the Russian Base, Vostok. In 1983 the temperature dropped all of the way down to -89.2 C. How cold is that in Fahrenheit? :-)

 
Thanks for asking.
Kirk 

Thu, 04/05/2007 - 11:18

Katie Breen

Wow! That is cold. The international standard for measuring and reporting temperature data is the metric system which commonly uses degrees Celsius. Some people still report temperature in degrees Fahrenheit so it's important to know how to convert from one to the other.
Converting from Celsius to Fahrenheit
To convert a Celsius temperature of into degrees Fahrenheit, first multiply the Celsius temperature reading by nine-fifths. Then add 32 to this number to get the temperature in Fahrenheit.
Converting from Fahrenheit to Celsius
To convert a Fahrenheit temperature into degrees Celsius, first subtract 32 from the Fahrenheit temperature. Then multiply by five-ninths to get the temperature in Celsius.
I converted the temperature from Celsius to Fahrenheit and found out that -89.2 C is the same as -128.6 F. Brrrrrrrrr any way you look at it!
The Celsius temperature scale is still sometimes referred to as the "centigrade" scale. Centigrade means "consisting of or divided into 100 degrees." The Swedish Astronomer Andres Celsius (1701-1744) developed the centigrade scales for scientific purposes. It has 100 degrees between the freezing point (0°C) and boiling point (100°C) of pure water at sea-level air pressure. An international conference on weights and measures voted to name the centigrade scale after its inventor in 1948.
Katie