New Delhi: With a distorted polar vortex, the world has been experiencing extreme weather at various countries.Polar vortex is a large cyclone over the earth's geographical poles. These are low pressure winds which strengthen in winter and weaken in summer due to the temperature differential between the equator and the poles. Researchers have found a correlation between a weak polar vortex and severe cold in northern hemisphere. Ozone depletion and global warming are the root cause of such weather anomalies round the globe, here is a compilation of 11 extreme weather records: 1. The coldest place of human settlement, Oymyakon village in Russia. In 1993, the temperature fell down to -68 C. 2. In Vostok, Antarctica, the lowest temperature recorded ever on earth was -89.2 C. 3. The coldest road of the planet is Russia's Kolyma Highway, recorded temperature at -67.7 C. The road is called the road of bones in the memory of inmates of a labor camp who had constructed it and died. The bones of the dead lay beneath the road. 4. The highest temperature of earth was recorded in California's Death Valley in 1913 according to World Meteorological Organization. 5. The largest desert in the world is Antarctica. As per the definition of a desert, it is a place with no rainfall, Antarctica is a 14 million kilometers squared desert. Only 2 inches precipitation is recorded per year. 6. The largest ice field outside the Poles is Yukon Territory in Canada, inside the 21,980-square-kilometer (8,486-square-mile) Kluane National Park and Reserve. 7. The longest recorded dry period in the world is from October 1903 to January 1918 in Africa, Chile. 8. The greatest rainfall in a day occurred with the passage of Cyclone Denise in Foc-Foc, La Réunion, an island in the southern Indian Ocean. Some 1.825 meters (71.8 inches) of rain fell over 24 hours, from January 7 to 8, 1966. 9. The biggest rainfall in one minute occurred in Unionville, Maryland, where on July 4, 1956, 1.22 inches (31.2 millimeters) of rain fell in one minute. 10. The heaviest hailstone was discovered during a hailstorm in Gopalganj, Bangladesh, on April 14, 1986, which killed 92 people. 11. The highest cold water geyser occurred on September 19, 2002, in Germany called Geysir Andernach recorded an ejection of 61.5 meters. With an average eruption height of 44 meters, Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park in the United States, is 20 meters short of Geysir Andernach.
Updated on: January 14, 2014 7:18 IST
