Hard to imagine living where it's SUPER cold - Yakutsk

[masraum]

These are fairly short, but interesting videos.

A few facts per Wikipedia.
Yakutsk - ~280 miles (south) from the Arctic Circle. The average annual temperature is 17.6ºF. The record low winter temp is -84ºF. The highest summer temps ever recorded were 101ºF It's the largest city located on permafrost.
The population was ~355,000 in 2021.
Apparently, it's a huge producer of diamonds and gold and coal.

This is interesting and the first video that I watched. It's about how homes are heated in this extreme environment. One of the things that I found interesting in this video is that it seems like they (or at least the girl in the video) heat their homes to a surprisingly high temp.


This is also very interesting and is a more general video about life which covers transportation, housing, dealing with the cold, shopping, etc...


She's got a ton of videos that sound super interesting. I've only watched the 2 above so far, but will be watching more.

https://www.youtube.com/@KiunB/videos

Living with snap cold in the winter or heat in the summer and griping about it, and then seeing a video about what these people have to deal with is eye opening.

[wdfifteen]

Thank you. Fascinating videos, and the girl is cute!

[masraum]

Holy moly. Some of their traditional food is not terribly appetizing (some of it raw meat eaten frozen).

[masraum]

holy sheiße!

Ice bathing where the temps are -40º - -60º. Running including a marathon that occurs in Jan in those extreme temps. (just FYI, this one is sponsored by an exercise app, so that comes up fairly frequently).

[masraum]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Thank you. Fascinating videos, and the girl is cute!

I'm impressed by her narration. Her English is excellent, and the writing is also very good. I wonder if she writes it or if someone else is giving her the text for the narration. It's hard to imagine a local having the skills to pull it off as well as she does (it's possible, it just seems unlikely to me). Maybe she's been abroad.

[Dantilla]

Originally Posted by masraum

One of the things that I found interesting in this video is that it seems like they (or at least the girl in the video) heat their homes to a surprisingly high temp.

My daughter went to college in Fairbanks, and she was annoyed at how warm the buildings on campus are kept.
Bundle up in layers, and then start peeling them off or start sweating as soon as you're back inside.
Below zero outside, T-shirt temps inside.

[Arizona_928]

The super cold is like the extreme heat.


If one doesn’t have to go outside, they don’t.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Arizona_928

The super cold is like the extreme hot.

If one doesn’t have to go outside, they don’t.

I was sent to the Phoenix/Tempe area once in Aug for 3 days. I remember hearing on the radio that it was 118º. I've been in various hot environments and seen lots of days in the 105º+ between Texas and Virginia where it's humid. I've been in Southern Spain where it was 108º and dry (where the Atlantic was in sight). You hear the "but it's a dry heat" statement bandied about. Yeah, so is my oven, but I don't climb in there either. 118º and crazy dry sucks. The misting machines that they had at the entrances of buildings and stores and on the patios of restaurants were really nice and welcome.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Dantilla

My daughter went to college in Fairbanks, and she was annoyed at how warm the buildings on campus are kept.
Bundle up in layers, and then start peeling them off or start sweating as soon as you're back inside.
Below zero outside, T-shirt temps inside.

Yeah, it seems insane. I've lived in some moderately cold environments. When it's 90º+ outside, I would not want the AC set to 68º. If it's in the 40s or less, I wouldn't want the heat set to 78º. I think in her video she said that some places have the heat set to 78º when it's -40º and less outside. I would expect the heat to be more in the range of 65-70º, maybe 72º max. Hell, that place in the summer normally is only in the 85-90º range.

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by masraum

I was sent to the Phoenix/Tempe area once in Aug for 3 days. I remember hearing on the radio that it was 118º. I've been in various hot environments and seen lots of days in the 105º+ between Texas and Virginia where it's humid. I've been in Southern Spain where it was 108º and dry (where the Atlantic was in sight). You hear the "but it's a dry heat" statement bandied about. Yeah, so is my oven, but I don't climb in there either. 118º and crazy dry sucks. The misting machines that they had at the entrances of buildings and stores and on the patios of restaurants were really nice and welcome.

I played football in phx all 4 years of high school, with practice from 3-8pm. Just something we did and enjoyed. Drank a gallon + of water a day and never had a heat injury.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Arizona_928

I played football in phx all 4 years of high school, with practice from 3-8pm. Just something we did and enjoyed. Drank a gallon + of water a day and never had a heat injury.

As a teen, heat didn't bother me much, but then I spent a lot more time outside in it. Now that I'm an old guy, I spend most of my time indoors in air conditioned environments, it sucks more. The human body can adapt to a wide range of conditions if subjected to them.

Firefighters train to be hot. I've heard/read that race car drivers deal with a lot of heat when they are racing.

[vash]

Originally Posted by Arizona_928

The super cold is like the extreme heat.


If one doesn’t have to go outside, they don’t.

they go outside. their supermarket is outdoors. everything frozen solid. they have warming stations to post up in when you quit feeling your face. it is so cold, it is super luxurious to own a car, so they WALK.

only place where they won't boo you for wearing furs. I love the YouTube channel.

I actually asked the wife if she wanted to tour there, and she said,,nah lets go to Norway in the winter where its warm.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by vash

they go outside. their supermarket is outdoors. everything frozen solid. they have warming stations to post up in when you quit feeling your face. it is so cold, it is super luxurious to own a car, so they WALK.

only place where they won't boo you for wearing furs. I love the YouTube channel.

I actually asked the wife if she wanted to tour there, and she said,,nah lets go to Norway in the winter where its warm.

After watching a few vids, I thought, "That would be a cool place to visit!" It would be an interesting experience, but I suspect it would get old very fast. I'm sure it would be an expensive trip for someplace that probably doesn't have a lot going on. Maybe if you found yourself in Asia for another reason, then a 1-3 day side trip would be cool.

The missus and I also want to go to Norway, see the fjords, northern lights (if we're lucky), etc.... And that would be in relatively close/easy proximity to lots of other stuff.

[TimT]

Go to Harbin, China for the ice festival

Harbin Ice Festival

[GH85Carrera]

With the proper modern clothes, cold weather can be no big deal. I just hate getting all the layers and thick coats on just to go get the mail, or take the trash to the curb.

I can handle hot weather, I just sweat like a race horse. In Palm Springs it was 107 when I pulled up in my 911. My bungalow was a full 12 minute walk to the main building where the restaurants were and the convention center. 12 minutes of brisk walk will get me kinda sweaty. I was taking 3 showers per day. It still beats being cold.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by TimT

Go to Harbin, China for the ice festival

Harbin Ice Festival

I have been to the Sapporo Snow Festival.

Snow Festival, Sapporo, Japan 1983 or 1984.
sculptures made of snow and ice.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

With the proper modern clothes, cold weather can be no big deal. I just hate getting all the layers and thick coats on just to go get the mail, or take the trash to the curb.

There's a pretty big difference between "Oklahoma cold" and "Yakutsk cold." I was surprised that they wear fur boots for superior foot protection as well as fur coats.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by masraum

There's a pretty big difference between "Oklahoma cold" and "Yakutsk cold." I was surprised that they wear fur boots for superior foot protection as well as fur coats.

No doubt. It is rare for us to get below zero, but it happens on occasion. We hit -7 a couple of years back. I drove my 911 when it was zero degrees. It was the only time I had the heater on high speed footwell blowers for more than a minute. I was comfortable, but I don't ever want to drive any car in -60 or -70. I can't imagine how they keep a car in operational conditions in that cold.

[vash]

Originally Posted by masraum

After watching a few vids, I thought, "That would be a cool place to visit!" It would be an interesting experience, but I suspect it would get old very fast. I'm sure it would be an expensive trip for someplace that probably doesn't have a lot going on. Maybe if you found yourself in Asia for another reason, then a 1-3 day side trip would be cool.

The missus and I also want to go to Norway, see the fjords, northern lights (if we're lucky), etc.... And that would be in relatively close/easy proximity to lots of other stuff.

meet you all there, bud!!

right now we are eyeballing a china tour November, so it should be approaching "Witches Tit" level by then.

I imagine tourist can rent coats? I dont own a thing that extreme.. like an insulated Members Only Jacket.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

No doubt. It is rare for us to get below zero, but it happens on occasion. We hit -7 a couple of years back. I drove my 911 when it was zero degrees. It was the only time I had the heater on high speed footwell blowers for more than a minute. I was comfortable, but I don't ever want to drive any car in -60 or -70. I can't imagine how they keep a car in operational conditions in that cold.

In the one video, it showed that they have thick quilted car covers that go to the ground with a cutout and extension for the exhaust. The cars start and run periodically to stay warm. Another one of the videos said that many of the folks with heated garages also have heaters for the batteries to keep them warm.