Weather in Antarctica 2023 -up

[Mark]

South Pole Below -100F

While mainstream headlines highlight western Antarctic sea-ice loss, often with little space for the volcanoes sitting below or the ice gains most everywhere else, the continent is currently posting some brutally cold readings.

On June 16, Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station fell to -73.6C (-100.5F). The daily maximum reached only -69.9C (-93.8F).

This made for the South Pole’s first sub -70C (-94F) reading since September 3, 2023, when the station logged -72.3C (-98.1F).

Other Antarctic stations were also in the freezer on June 16.
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/south-pole-below-100f-north-atlantic

[Mark]

South Pole Falls Below -70C Again

On June 22, the low at the South Pole Station registered a biting -71.3C (-96.3F). That makes eight days this month with a minimum below -70C (-94F).

For several weeks now, a stark, colder-than-average air mass has sat over Antarctica, with temperatures in parts of the continent running more than 20C below the long-term average.


Most of the cold has remained locked over the ice sheet.

But in recent days, lobes of that cold air have been spilled north into South America.

Santa Catarina, Brazil, opened winter with hard frost and subzero readings. Bom Jardim da Serra fell to -7.3C (18.9F), the state’s lowest temperature of the year so far. Urubici dropped to -3.8C (25.1F), with Urupema at -5.2C (22.6F).

Central Chile is facing lows of -4C (24.8F) this week. In Argentina, the national weather service has issued cold alerts for parts of Neuquén, Mendoza, San Luis, Córdoba, San Juan, La Rioja, Catamarca, Tucumán and Jujuy.
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/south-pole-below-70c-again-sunshine

[Mark]

Antarctica has been anomalously cold for weeks.

As expected, the June average reflects this.

The provisional monthly average at Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station came in at -60.2C (-76.4F), some 2.1C below the June norm and the station’s coldest June since 2021. It was also the coldest month at the Pole since July 2022.

June 2021 formed part of the coldest April–September stretch ever recorded at the South Pole Station (data back to 1957) — the dark-season “coreless winter” when the sun stays set.

For reference, the South Pole’s coldest June on record remains the -64.3C from 2003. But this -60.2C is still well below normal, biting cold even by South Pole standards, and comes after consistence cold pulses, including a June 16 low of -73.6C (-100.5F).

While headlines chased a sliver of warmth along the Antarctic Peninsula earlier in the month, the South Pole was telling the continent’s true story. Vostok and Concordia monthly updates to follow—also set to be anomalously cold.
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/south-poles-very-cold-june-western

[Mark]

https://electroverse.substack.com/p/antarctica-hits-841c-1194f-earths

Antarctica’s deep freeze intensified over the weekend.

On July 18, Concordia Station at Dome C plunged to -84.1C (-119.4F) at 6:25 UTC—the lowest measured air temperature on Earth since Vostok reached -84.2C (-119.6F) in September 2012.

ClimAntartide confirmed the reading—the third-lowest at Concordia since observations began in 2005 (record remains the -84.7C (-120.5F), set on August 13, 2010). The station’s daily maximum struggled to just -76.9C (-106.4F).


Daily records also fell at Dome Fuji. The station dropped to -80.4C (-112.7F) on July 17, breaking the date record of -79.8C (-111.6F) from 1999. On July 18, it plunged to -81.9C (-115.4F), besting the previous mark of -78.9C (-110F), also from 1999.

The cold engulfed the wider Antarctic Plateau. Automatic weather stations recorded -72C (-97.6F) at Henry, -75C (-103F) at Nico—both near the South Pole—and -81C (-113.8F) at Dome CII near Concordia.

Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station posted a maximum of only -70.8C (-95.4F) on July 17, with the following day reaching a max of just -71C (-95.8F). The minimum for Saturday came in at -76.2C (-105.2F) and so broke the July 18 daily record of -75.7C (-104.3F) set in 2006. The weekend made for the coldest multi-day stretch at the South Pole since August 2–3, 2019.

[Mark]

Extreme cold has persisted at Antarctica, namely Concordia Station, where temperatures remained below -80C (-112F) for a fourth consecutive day on July 20.

The run began on July 11 at -73.6C (-100.5F), followed by -75.5C on July 12, then by -76C on July 13 and 14, -79.4C on July 15, -79.6C on July 16, -82.8C on July 17 and -84.1C (-119.4F) on July 18. Concordia then registered -82.7C on July 19, before reaching a provisional -80.7C (-113.3F) on July 20. That makes ten straight days below -100F and four straight below -112F.

The -84.1C reading on July 18 was the third-lowest at Concordia since its continuous record began in 2005 and the lowest measured air temperature anywhere on Earth since Vostok reached -84.2C (-119.6F) in September 2012.

A slight warm-up is forecast over the coming days. But the depth and persistence of what Concordia has just witnessed is exceptional: From July 16-20, the average of the five daily minima was -82C (-115.6F)—the third-lowest five-day average in Concordia’s observational history. Only June 19-23, 2017, which averaged -82.6C, and June 20-24, 2017, at -82.1C were colder.
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/ten-straight-days-below-100f-greenland

[Mark]

The deep Antarctic freeze is refusing to ease.

At the South Pole Station, July averaged approximately -64.3C (-83.7F), some 4.1C below the station’s seasonal norm. This ties with 1969 as the fourth-coldest July and ranks joint seventh-coldest among ALL months in records dating back to 1957.

Minimum temperatures fell below -70C (-94F) on 12 days during the month, tying the station record set in July 1986.

Conditions were similarly severe at Vostok Station.

Its provisional July mean stands at -71.6C (-96.9F), some 6.2C below the average and the station’s fourth-coldest July in books back to 1958. Only July 1983 (-73.8C), 1997 (-72.9C) and 1979 (-72.3C) were colder.

Vostok Station (circled), deep within the high interior of East Antarctica.

The cold has now persisted into August, too.

On Aug 1, the South Pole recorded a low of -73.2C, with a daily mean of -71.6C—11.5C below the August norm.

https://electroverse.substack.com/p/antarctic-cold-persists-into-august

[Mark]

Antarctica’s Deep Freeze
July 2026 was exceptionally cold across Antarctica, with Vostok and the South Pole posting monthly averages well below normal and approaching long-standing records.

At Vostok, Russia’s Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute has confirmed a July mean of -71.6C (-96.9F). That is 6.2C (11.2F) below the 2005–2024 average, making for the coldest July of the past decade.

Across Vostok’s record, dating back to 1958, only four Julys have been colder: 1983 at -73.8C (-100.8F), 1997 at -72.9C (-99.2F), 1979 at -72.3C (-98.1F) and 2016 at -71.8C (-97.2F).

At the South Pole, July averaged -64.3C (-83.7F), which is 4.1C (7.4F) below normal. This matches the South Pole’s former July record set in 1965. That benchmark stood for 32 years before July 1997 averaged -66C; the current record, -67.3C, was set in 2004.

At Concordia/Dome C, temperatures plunged to -84.1C (-119.4F) on July 18—the lowest air temperature recorded on Earth since 2012 and just 0.6C shy of Concordia’s all-time record of -84.7C set in 2010.

The nearby Dome C II AWS, operating since 1995, was also running around 5-6C below its July normal late in the month and close to its coldest July values on record. Its complete July mean has yet to be finalized.
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/antarcticas-deep-freeze-new-zealand