Fortunately for them, the children of Oymyakon, in Siberia, are permitted to stay home from school if the thermometer registers a temperature below minus 55 degrees Celsius (minus 67 degrees Fahrenheit). Oymyakon is one of the coldest places on the planet that has a permanent population. As of July 17, 2011, the unincorporated village had a population of 500.

On February 6, 1933, the town’s weather station recorded a temperature of -67.7 degrees C, or -89.9 degrees F. Officially, this is the coldest temperature directly recorded at ground level in the Northern Hemisphere. Only the Vostok Station in Antarctica has ever posted a more frigid reading, -89.2 C ( -128 F), on July 21, 1983. The Northern Hemisphere’s summer months of June, July, and August, are the Southern Hemisphere’s winter months.

The rural locality is named after the Oymyakon River. "Oymyakon" may mean “unfrozen patch of water; a place where fish spend the winter” or “frozen lake”, depending on the source consulted. The area is surrounded by 1,100-meter (3,600-foot) mountains, which trap the freezing arctic winds.

Oymyakon has held the dubious distinction of being a “Northern Pole of Cold” since 1933. Its “extreme subarctic climate” features frigid winters and the temperature rises above -10 C (14 F) only in June and July. However, the mercury soared to 34.6 C (94 F) on July 28, 2010.

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