Hottest and Coldest Places on Earth

Hottest

Bangkok, Thailand

Though other cities reach higher temperatures, Bangkok maintains constant heat year round. It is almost always over 30 degrees Celsius (84 Fahrenheit) day and night, summer and winter. Because it is tropical and not desert, the humidity traps in the hot, sticky weather. April and May are the hottest months, and the average high temperatures are 102 F/39 C.

Mecca, Saudi Arabia

This is a highly frequented city for religious Muslims, and also one of the hottest cities on earth. The average yearly high temperature is 99 F/37 C, and its hottest month is June, where it reaches 109 F/43 C. Because it is in the desert, nighttime is not nearly as hot as the daytime.

Al ‘Aziziyah, Libya

This is in one of the less inhabited districts in Libya, located 34 miles southeast of Tripoli. It holds the record for the world’s highest recorded temperature at 134 F/58 C, on September 13, 1922.

Timbuktu, Mali

This is a city in Mali, a West African nation, and is located in the desert, so there is little rain and lots of sunshine. Its average temperature is 84.7 F/ 29.3 C, and its hottest months are May and June, where average temperatures exceed 40 C. Practically all of the rainfall occurs in September.

Coldest

Yakutsk, Russia

This city is located in deep Eastern Siberia, and has a population of 200,000. It is located six times zones away from Moscow. Its coldest month is January, where the highs are around minus 40 Celsius! According to locals, this is thought of as cold but “not very cold,” for that time of year. The city becomes coated with a fog of cold air, and locals warn you against wearing glasses that will get destroyed in this extreme weather. The population can be seen wearing many fur layers and often have frozen eye lashes.

Oymyakon, Russia

Also located in far eastern Siberia, this is an extremely freezing place. Nearby mountain ranges trap the cold air into this valley. On January 26, 1926, its temperature was recorded at -71.2 C/-96.2 F, which was the record for any inhabited location on earth. Its average low is -9 C/-22.5 F.

Snag, Yukon, Canada

This city is located in Northern Canada, on the border of Alaska, and recorded a record of minus 81 degrees Fahrenheit in 1947. It is situated in a bowl shaped valley on the White River, which blocks it from any warmer Pacific air. Instead, it gets a drift of colder air coming down from the mountains.

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