Coldest Temperatures Ever Recorded in North America

North America is the third largest continent on planet Earth. There are three large countries in North America, Canada, the United States, and Mexico, as well as many smaller countries in Central America and the Caribbean, plus the world's largest island that is not a continent in Greenland.

The following is a list of the coldest temperatures ever recorded on the continent of North America. I've broken down the list by coldest temperatures recorded in Greenland, and the coldest temperatures recorded outside of Greenland.

Coldest Temperatures Ever Recorded in North America

1. -92.9 Degrees at Klinck, Greenland in 1991

On December 22, 1991, University of Wisconsin scientists, using an automated temperature recorder, recorded a temperature of -92.9 degrees at the Klinck research station in Greenland. The Klinck research station was located at an elevation of 10,187 feet on the Greenland ice sheet at the time.

2. -89.0 Degrees at Summit Camp, Greenland

A record low temperature of -89.0 degrees was recorded at the Summit Camp research station located at an elevation of 10,530 feet on the Greenland ice sheet. Summit Camp was established in 1989 as a summer research station. It has been manned year-round since the early 2000s.

3. North Ice, Greenland recorded temperature of -87 degrees in 1954

On January 9, 1954, a temperature reading of -87 degrees was observed using a thermometer at theNorth Ice research station in Greenland. North Ice was a British research station in north-central Greenland that was only manned from 1952 to 1954.

Coldest Temperatures in North America Outside of Greenland

1. -81.4 Degrees at Snag, Yukon Territory, Canada in 1947

On February 3, 1947, a temperature reading of -81.4 degrees was observed using a thermometer in the village of Snag, located in the Yukon Territory in Canada. Journals from the men who were there on that day detail how the cold air affected many things.

Sound, including voices, could be heard for miles around, and one's breath outside would hang in the air like little puffs of clouds. The men could literally know where anyone outside was because they could just follow the trail of their cloud breaths hanging in the air.

Supposedly on the same day Snag set the record for coldest temperature in North America outside of Greenland, the temperature dropped to -85 degrees in Fort Selkirk, northeast of Snag. That temperature reading is not recognized because the thermometer was not housed properly.

2. -80.0 Degrees at Prospect Creek Camp in Alaska

On January 23, 1971, at Prospect Creek Camp in Alaska, the temperature dropped to -80 degrees. That is the second coldest reading in North America outside of Greenland, and the coldest temperature ever recorded in Alaska and the United States.

Prospect Creek is located about 180 miles north of Fairbanks. It's a mining camp and also the site of a pumping station for the Alaskan Pipeline. You can drive to Prospect Creek along the Dalton Highway, which is a spectacular road to drive from a scenery standpoint.

I drove part-way up the Dalton Highway when I visited Alaska during the summer of 1989. I could never live there, but Alaska is an awesome, spectacular place to visit.