Winter is just starting: Early record cold arrives in Antarctica

Extreme cold has arrived abnormally early in Antarctica, with temperatures dropping to below -75°C from the beginning of May.

Following the onset of polar night, winter has started at the South Pole, and with it glacial cold at the Russian research station of Vostok. As early as May 5th a low of -75°C was recorded, while just days ago this fell further to -76.4°C.

This marks a new record for the early winter, daily highs are also plummeting, often just below -70°C on the Earth’s coldest continent.

Usually, the coldest temperatures in Antarctica are not reached until the end of July and beginning of August.

The lowest temperature ever recorded in Vostok was -89.2°C on July 21st, 1983. This also doubles as the lowest value ever measured on Earth.

Such an early cold on the icy continent possibly indicates an imminent, very cold high winter. A similarly chilly start in 2021 was followed by the lowest temperatures in more than six decades.

Vostok research station is not located at the South Pole, but almost 1,300 kilometres away from it. At an altitude of almost 3,500 metres, the lowest temperatures on our planet are measured there.

Satellite measurements near the station in July 2004 registered values as low as -98.6°C, but this low is not recognised by the World Meteorological Organisation.

This is due to satellites recording the surface temperature of the snow rather than air temperature. Temperatures two metres above the ground and the snow can often be as wide as five degrees.