temperature · Antarctica
Vostok Station
Annual mean temperature
Modelled demonstration series · not observed data
This is the control tile. The high plateau is barely moving, and it is included here precisely because it is barely moving. An instrument wall that showed every place breaking records would be a wall you should distrust. Some places are still sitting close to their own normal, and this is one of them.
75 years, modelled
Same reading, two normals
| Normal | Mean | σ | Pct | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951–1980 | -55.4 °C | +0.50σ | 69th | 1 in 3.2 years |
| 1991–2020 | -54.9 °C | −0.00σ | 50th | 1 in 2.0 years |
Today would rank 37 of 76 for highest value in the modelled series. Nothing about the reading changes between rows — only the yardstick.
Documented real-world record · well documented
−89.2 °C — 21 July 1983
Vostok Station recorded −89.2 °C — the lowest air temperature ever reliably measured at the Earth's surface.
The season here
The East Antarctic plateau is the coldest place on Earth and the most stable — it is insulated from the changes hitting the peninsula and the Arctic.
Where this series comes from
MODELLED SERIES — not observed. Parameters set from published Vostok annual-mean climatology. The 75 annual values are synthesised. The real-world record cited separately is documented and is NOT part of this modelled series.
Every number on this page comes from a modelled series: 75 annual values synthesised by a seeded generator from published climatological parameters for Vostok Station. It shows how anomaly reasoning works. It is not a measurement and must not be cited as one.
How to read σ
σ counts standard deviations from this place's own normal. The sigma guide · return periods.
More temperature stations
Open Vostok Station on the field →