The Coldest Place on Earth Is Nearing The Ultimate Limits of Our Planet

Just how cold can it get on Earth? Colder than we thought, apparently. A new study of satellite data reports that valleys in Antarctica's ice sheets can reach close to minus 100 degrees Celsius (or minus 148 degrees Fahrenheit).
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Very chilly then, and significantly below the previous record of minus 93 degrees Celsius (minus 135 degrees Fahrenheit) observed in the same area.

Scientists reached the new figure by looking again at remote satellite readings of temperatures on the East Antarctic Plateau, which covers the South Pole, and recalibrating these readings with updated data taken from weather stations on the ground.

The new low point is officially minus 98 degrees Celsius (minus 144 degrees Fahrenheit), a temperature that "appears to be about as low as it is possible to reach" according to the international team of researchers who worked on the new study.

https://www.sciencealert.com/the-coldest-place-on-earth-got-colder-antarctica

Ultralow Surface Temperatures in East Antarctica From Satellite Thermal Infrared Mapping: The Coldest Places on Earth

We identify areas near the East Antarctic ice divide where <?90 °C surface snow temperatures are observed in wintertime satellite thermal‐band data under clear‐sky conditions. The lowest temperatures are found in small (<200 km2) topographic basins of ~2 m depth above 3,800 m elevation. Approximately 100 sites have observed minimum surface temperatures of ~?98 °C during the winters of 2004–2016. Comparisons of surface snow temperatures with near‐surface air temperatures at nearby weather stations indicate that ~?98 °C surfaces imply ~?94 ± 4 °C 2‐m air temperatures. Landsat 8 thermal band data and elevation data show gradients near the topographic depressions of ~6 °C km?1 horizontally and ~4 °C m?1 vertically. Ultralow temperature occurrences correlate with strong polar vortex circulation. We discuss a conceptual model of radiative surface cooling that produces an extreme inversion layer. Further cooling occurs as near‐surface cold air pools in shallow high‐elevation topographic basins, moderated by clear‐air downwelling radiation and heat from subsurface snow.

Plain Language Summary

The lowest measured air temperature on Earth is ?89.2 °C (?129 F) on 23 July 1983, observed at Vostok Station in Antarctica (Turner et al., 2009, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD012104). However, satellite data collected during the Antarctic polar night during 2004–2016 reveal a broad region of the high East Antarctic Plateau above Vostok that regularly reaches snow surface temperatures of ?90 °C and below. These occur in shallow topographic depressions near the highest part of the ice sheet, at 3,800 to 4,050‐m elevation. Comparisons with nearby automated weather stations suggest that air temperatures during these events are near ?94 ± 4 °C or about ?138 F. Ultracold conditions (below ?90 °C) occur more frequently when the Antarctic polar vortex is strong. This temperature appears to be about as low as it is possible to reach, even under clear skies and very dry conditions, because heat radiating from the cold clear air is nearly equal to the heat radiating from the bitterly cold snow surface.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2018GL078133