Highest temperature recorded in the Arctic Circle

The town of Verkhoyansk (67.55° N, 133.38° E) in the region of the Sakha Republic/Yakutia, Russia, reached 38°C (100.4°F) on 20 June 2020, as verified by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in December 2021.

This represents the upper limit of another record held by Verkhoyansk: the greatest recorded temperature range in a single location over time. Having experienced a low of -67.7°C (-90°F) in February 1892, this means the town has logged an overall temperature span of 106°C (190.4°F) since weather-station records began in 1885.

This new Arctic temperature follows in the wake of a new record on the opposite side of the world just a few months earlier. The highest temperature recorded on the continent of Antarctica is 18.3°C (64.9°F) on 6 February 2020, as confirmed by the WMO on 14 February 2020. The temperature was logged at Argentina’s Esperanza research station on the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.