There are more than two hundred capitals in the modern world. Residents of some of them do not know what summer is - winter there lasts almost all year round! In this article we will talk about the coldest capitals in the world. What are these cities and where are they located?
The coldest capitals in the world (list)
Oymyakon is considered the most "frosty" settlement on the planet. This is the village of Oymyakon in Yakutia (Russia), where the minimum air temperature was recorded: -65 degrees. Of course, in the list of the coldest capitals in the world there are no cities so extreme in terms of climate. Moreover, the summer season in many of them is abnormally hot and dry. What are these cities?
It should be noted that absolutely all the capitals from our list are located in the Northern Hemisphere. Moreover, eight out of ten cities are located within the Eurasian continent. When compiling the list, the average temperature of the coldest month of the year was taken into account. All cities were ranked according to this climate indicator. So, the ten coldest capitals in the world are as follows:
- Ulaanbaatar(Mongolia).
- Astana (Kazakhstan).
- Ottawa (Canada).
- Nuuk (Greenland - Denmark).
- Moscow (Russian Federation).
- Helsinki (Finland).
- Minsk (Belarus).
- Tallinn (Estonia).
- Kyiv (Ukraine).
- Riga (Latvia).
Next, we will look at the weather and climate conditions of the five coldest capital cities on our planet.
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Average temperature of the coldest month: -21.6 °C.
Annual average temperature: -0.4 °C.
Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital in the world! Who would have thought, because this city is located on the same latitude as Chisinau and Budapest. So why is it so cold here? There are several reasons: firstly, Ulaanbaatar is located very far from the oceans, and secondly, it is located in an intermountain basin (the average height above sea level is 1350 meters).
The weather in Ulaanbaatar is characterized by rather sharp temperature changes, both daily and seasonal. In summer, the air here often warms up to +30, but in winter temperatures can drop to -40 degrees Celsius. The month of January is especially "violent" here. Rivers and streams at this time freeze through.
Nevertheless, despite such severe weather, life is in full swing in Ulaanbaatar. This is evidenced by an eloquent fact: almost half of the inhabitants of Mongolia live in this city.
Astana, Kazakhstan
Average temperature of the coldest month: -14.2 °C.
Average annu altemperature: +3.5 °C.
The second capital in our ranking is Astana. In winter, air temperatures here often drop to -20-25 °C. Winters in the Kazakh capital are long, cold and very dry. In addition, they are often amplified by piercing and icy steppe winds. But in summer, hot air masses penetrate into Astana, and the weather here is quite hot.
Ottawa, Canada
Average temperature of the coldest month: -10.8 °C.
Average annual temperature: +6.0 °C.
The city of Ottawa is located on the border of two climatic zones. Therefore, the weather conditions here are extremely contrasting. Summer in the Canadian capital is quite warm, but winters are accompanied by real “biting” frosts. The absolute temperature minimum that was recorded here was -39 °C.
In addition, the city of Ottawa boasts another climate record: it is the snowiest capital on the planet. Especially heavy snowfalls are typical for December and January. During the three winter months in Ottawa, about 230 mm of precipitation falls. Mostly in the form of snow.
Nuuk, Greenland
Average temperature of the coldest month: -9.0 °C.
Annual average temperature: -1.4 °C.
Nuuk is the capital of the largest island on the planet - Greenland (which, in turn, is part of the Kingdom of Denmark). Only 16 thousand people live in this small town.
Nuuk is located on the southwest coastislands, just where the warm West Greenland current passes. In this regard, the sea never freezes here, which creates good conditions for the development of fisheries. From the end of May to the beginning of August, the so-called white nights last in Nuuk. In other words, natural light during this period of the year is present even at night.
Among all the world's capitals, Nuuk has the lowest average annual air temperature. True, the winter frosts here are greatly softened by the proximity of the Atlantic Ocean. But even in summer it is much colder here than in Ulaanbaatar or Ottawa. Air temperatures in July rarely rise to +10 degrees in the capital of Greenland.
There are no trees or shrubs in Nuuk at all. During a very short summer, the soil simply does not have time to unfreeze and warm up to the desired depth.
Moscow, Russia
Average temperature of the coldest month: -6.7 °C.
Mean annual temperature: +5.8 °C.
Fifth place in the ranking of the coldest capital cities of the planet is Moscow. The capital of Russia is located in temperate latitudes, where four seasons a year are clearly expressed. In summer it is quite hot here, and in winter it is quite cold. Twenty-degree frosts for Moscow are by no means uncommon. But the lowest air temperature in this city was recorded in 1940 (-42, 2 ° C).
In general, the Moscow winter lasts four months (from November 10 to March 20). At this time of the year short periods with severe frosts alternate with thaws, when the air temperature rises to zero and above. Spring in Moscow is characterized by significant temperature fluctuations. Sometimes it gets quite hot already in April, but night frosts are often recorded in May.
During the year, up to 800 millimeters of precipitation falls in the Russian capital (most of them occur in the summer). Natural phenomena that are not uncommon for Moscow are fogs, showers and thunderstorms. From time to time powerful hurricanes and tornadoes fall upon the city. The last of them happened in Moscow on May 29, 2017. The devastating storm claimed the lives of 18 people, damaged about 250 houses and knocked down over 20,000 trees.
What will winter be like in Moscow (2017-2018)?
Even at the beginning of the 21st century, in the conditions of the rapid development of advanced technologies, scientists have not yet learned how to accurately predict the weather for the next 2-3 months. Therefore, it is unlikely that anyone will be able to reliably and with absolute certainty say what winter will be like in Moscow. Nevertheless, such forecasts exist - they are developed annually by domestic meteorologists.
So, winter 2017-2018 promises to be traditional in the Russian capital. Meteorologists assure that it will not differ much from previous winters in the middle zone of the country. However, very sharp temperature drops are possible, which is associated with global changes in the earth's climate.
The warmest periods of winter, according to weather forecasts, should be expected in mid-December and in the first decade of February. But the first snowfalls will begin at the end of November. And they promise to be veryplentiful. Muscovites should prepare for the most severe frosts in January, as well as in the second half of February.
