Western Siberia is currently stuck in a mini Ice Age as temperatures plummeted to nearly -80 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking all previous cold records. And meteorologists say that even icier weather is coming. Temps tumbled to -62 degrees Celsius (-79.6°F) at the Bolshoe Olkhovskoe oilfield in the Khanti-Mansi region this week. And the Kazym village in the Beloyarsky district showed a biting -58 degrees C (-72.4°F).
In the province of Nadym, the bone-shattering cold pushed past the -50 degrees C (-58°F) mark, forcing schools to shut down. In provinces like Yakutia, schools stayed open despite a bone-chilling -52 degrees C (-61.6°F). While these arctic temperatures are commonplace in eastern Siberia, it rarely gets this frigid in the west.
Check out these extreme cold photos from Surgut, Russia yesterday morning (December 21)! -58 °C reading on the thermometer! pic.twitter.com/f2SJxRuyYf
— severe-weather.EU (@severeweatherEU) December 22, 2016
The glacial weather has frozen vehicles’ fuel lines and batteries, forcing people to take taxis. And even that wasn’t a foolproof method of getting to work because many of the cabs wouldn’t start either. With demand outpacing supply, the price of a cab ride tripled during the deep freeze.
