February 3

The Coldest Day in North America

On this day in 1947, the thermometer fell to -63°C at Snag, Yukon, in Canada. It was the coldest day ever recorded in North America. When people threw a dish of water high into the air, the water made a hissing noise, then froze and fell to the ground as tiny round pellets of ice. People reported that as they exhaled, their breath froze and fell to the ground with a tinkling sound. Temperatures that cold have been recorded in only three places outside of Canada: northeastern Siberia, central Greenland, and Antarctica