We’re having a beautiful autumn in the northwest.
The days have been sunny and bright, yet quite chilly. We haven’t been out of the fifties for the last few days.
I haven’t adjusted to jackets yet, so I’m layering t-shirts and sweatshirts. Just right during the day, but I feel a bit cold in the morning and evening.
Instead of complaining (or putting on a jacket,) I decided to research the coldest places on the earth and in the solar system. Perhaps I can convince myself that it isn’t cold here yet.
Fairbanks, Alaska is the coldest city in the United States. It averages -16F in the winter. That’s cold, but it also holds the record for the coldest city in the U.S. ever when it reached -66F. I visited my aunt and uncle in Fairbanks last August. I thought I could live there, but now I wonder.
The coldest place on Earth is at the Vostok Station in Antarctica. On July 21, 1983, the temperature was measured at -128F. Wow!
The coldest spot recorded in the solar system (not counting space itself) is nearby. It’s on the moon. The temperature of the permanently shadowed crater at the moon’s south pole was found to be -397F, That’s colder than Pluto!
See, cold is relative. I think it’s cold out, but it’s not in negative numbers, so we’re barely cool. Cool!