Verkhoyansk

Verkhoyansk ( _ru. Верхоя́нск) is a town in the Sakha Republic, Russia, situated on the Yana River, near the Arctic Circle, 675 km from Yakutsk. There is a river port, an airport, a fur-collecting depot, and the center of a reindeer-raising area. Population: ru-census2002|1,434|. It preserves the status of town only historically; at the 2002 census it was the third-smallest town in Russia, larger than only Magas and Chekalin.

A cossack settlement was founded in 1638 90 km south-west of the modern town. In 1775 it was moved to the left bank of the Yana River, to facilitate tax collection. It received the status of town in 1817. Between the 1860s and 1917 the town was a place of political exile.

Climate

Verkhoyansk is noted chiefly for its exceptionally low winter temperatures, with a January average of C to F|-50. It lies in the coldest area of the Northern Hemisphere (a.k.a. Stalin's Death Ring), and together with Oymyakon is one of the places considered the northern Pole of Cold. The lowest temperature recorded there in 1892, was C to F|-69.8|precision=1. Temperatures in Verkhoyansk have spanned 107 °C (192 °F): from C to F|-68 to C to F|39. January 2006 saw temperatures coming close to the all-time record, when it reached a low of C to F|-66.7.

In this area, temperature inversions often form in winter, with the temperature warmer with higher altitude, rather than vice-versa.

Regarding precipitation, Verkhoyansk has very little overall with less than 150mm per year. Most falls in summer and very little in winter. Any that does fall in winter falls as snow. This is typical of many settlements with a polar climate.

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