cold pole

The location that has the lowest annual mean temperature in its hemisphere.

In the Northern Hemisphere the cold pole is usually placed at Verkhoiansk in Siberia (67°33′N, 133°24′E) with an annual mean temperature of -16°C (3°F) [January: -50°C (-59°F), July: 16°C (60°F)], but the country around Verkhoiansk is very mountainous, and lower winter temperatures are found in some of the valleys. At Oimekon, for example, the average January temperature is probably below -51°C (-60°F). In the Southern Hemisphere the cold pole is near 80°–85°S and 75°–90°E. International Geophysical Year stations located inland on Antarctica have recorded several temperatures well below -73°C (-100°F).