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The lowest temperature ever officially recorded in Canada â and indeed in all of continental North America â is -62.8°C (-81.4°F). It was at the village of Snag, a now-abandoned mining town in the Yukon established during the famous Klondike Gold Rush of 1896. The record low temperature was recorded on February 2nd, 1947, right in the center of a cold snap that affected most of the world (in the UK, Londonâs famous River Thames froze over for the first time in more than 120 years!).
In the same 1947 cold snap, record lows were also recorded at Norman Wells, NWT (-54.4°C), Fort Nelson, BC (-51.7°C), and Fort McMurray, Alberta (-50.6°C). So, it wasnât just the northern parts of Canada that were feeling the chill. More recently, in 1973, a weather station near Esker Lake in Newfoundland recorded a new record low of -51.1°C, which is as close as weâve come to the Snag record in modern times.
At those temperatures, any exposed skin would freeze in less than three minutes, promptly followed by frostbite, hypothermia, and eventually death. Nowadays, crazy low temperatures like this donât happen in Canada too often, although some places in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories can still reach -35°C and during the height of the winter.
So, where would you look for Snag if you were thinking of visiting? It wonât be easy. Located 20 miles from the Canada-Alaska border, on the bends of the roaring White River, the village can only be reached on a winding road through the mountains and woods that is virtually completely frozen over in the winter months. Itâs hardly your usual winter break sort of place!
Fun fact: Although many articles mention that Snag recorded the coldest temperature ever on February 2nd, most donât add that the temperature between Jan 29th and Feb 5th 1947 was constantly lower than 57°C (70°F), which is itself another record!
https://www.jtgtravel.com/north-america/canada/coldest-places-in-canada/#:~:text=Saguenay%20in%20Quebec%20might%20be%20Canada%E2%80%99s%20coldest%20city%2C,the%20map%2C%20closer%20to%20Greenland%20than%20to%20Vancouver%21
In the same 1947 cold snap, record lows were also recorded at Norman Wells, NWT (-54.4°C), Fort Nelson, BC (-51.7°C), and Fort McMurray, Alberta (-50.6°C). So, it wasnât just the northern parts of Canada that were feeling the chill. More recently, in 1973, a weather station near Esker Lake in Newfoundland recorded a new record low of -51.1°C, which is as close as weâve come to the Snag record in modern times.
At those temperatures, any exposed skin would freeze in less than three minutes, promptly followed by frostbite, hypothermia, and eventually death. Nowadays, crazy low temperatures like this donât happen in Canada too often, although some places in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories can still reach -35°C and during the height of the winter.
So, where would you look for Snag if you were thinking of visiting? It wonât be easy. Located 20 miles from the Canada-Alaska border, on the bends of the roaring White River, the village can only be reached on a winding road through the mountains and woods that is virtually completely frozen over in the winter months. Itâs hardly your usual winter break sort of place!
Fun fact: Although many articles mention that Snag recorded the coldest temperature ever on February 2nd, most donât add that the temperature between Jan 29th and Feb 5th 1947 was constantly lower than 57°C (70°F), which is itself another record!
https://www.jtgtravel.com/north-america/canada/coldest-places-in-canada/#:~:text=Saguenay%20in%20Quebec%20might%20be%20Canada%E2%80%99s%20coldest%20city%2C,the%20map%2C%20closer%20to%20Greenland%20than%20to%20Vancouver%21