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By Martin Lewis
What exactly is the worst climate in the world? Whether a given climate is good or bad is subjective; to a native of northern Alaska, for instance, 75°F can seem miserably hot. But, in general, what makes for the worst climate depends on what you dread the most: fire or ice. Here are 4 places we’re not planning on setting up shop.
1. Jacobabad, Pakistan
Anyone averse to fire should avoid spending a summer in Death Valley, California, where the average July temperature is 101°F, or Marble Bar, Australia, which once recorded 161 days in a row when the mercury topped 100°F. Even hotter—or at least more sticky—times can be had in Jacobabad, Pakistan.
Here the average June high temperature is 114°F, with relative humidity averaging nearly 60% in the morning hours.
Dust storms are also frequent at this time of the year. Add to that the prevalence of Islamic extremism and clan feuds in the area, and Jacobabad might not be the ideal place for resort development.
2. Djibouti, Africa
At least Jacobabad, like Death Valley and Marble Bar, has relatively pleasant winters. For year-round heat and general unpleasantness, the best selection is probably Djibouti, in northeastern Africa, where it’s always hot, always humid, and hardly ever rains. Djibouti’s winters are marginally bearable, with average high temperatures in the mid-80s Fahrenheit and relative humidity at midday hovering at 70%, but the rest of the year is something else. By July expect a temperature range from 87°F at night to 106°F in the afternoon, with early morning relative humidity around 60%. The people of Djibouti are especially inclined to seek shelter during the summer months when the khamsin wind blows in from the desert, compounding the heat with ample quantities of dust and grit.
3. Sakha, Siberia
Ice haters should avoid the polar areas, but that’s easy enough, since no humans live there. Roughly 1 million people, on the other hand, live in Sakha (or Yakutia) in east-central Siberia. In its capital city of Yakutsk, the average January temperature is -45.4°F. Further north, Verkhoyansk enjoys an average January high temperature of -54°F. Cultural practices exacerbate the discomfort: in the winter, the local people traditionally live with their horses and cattle, subsisting on milk tar—an intriguing blend of fish, berries, bones, and the inner bark of pine trees conveniently dissolved in sour milk. Not surprisingly, Russia’s Czarist and Communist authorities used to enjoy exiling troublesome intellectuals to this region. But partially as a result, the people of Sakha are now noted for their intellectual and political sophistication.
4. Kerguelen
Despite its winter frigidity, Sakha’s brief summers are sweet. For incessant unpleasantness, look to maritime locations between 50° and 60° latitude, where raw temperatures; brisk winds; and rain, sleet, and snow predominate year-round. Alaska’s Aleutian Islands certainly fit the bill, but the best example is probably Kerguelen, a sizable French-owned archipelago in the southern Indian Ocean. Kerguelen experiences precipitation on more than 300 days a year, and its average temperatures range from 35.6°F in July to 45.5°F in January.
Kerguelen has no flying insects—not too surprising considering its average wind speed of 35 kph, which would quickly send the hapless butterfly far out to sea.
Thus even the ubiquitous Kerguelen cabbage, a former godsend for scurvy-racked whalers, has adapted to being pollinated by wind rather than insects.
Ed Note: This list was pulled from Condensed Knowledge, available here.
Comments (17)
Comment
I’m tempted to request an Honorable Mention for here in Kentucky - it was 71 yesterday, and today we’re hanging out in the thirties. Geez. A substantial part of our hallway at home is occupied by a comically large coat rack, with his-and-hers overwear for any possible contingency.
posted by Roger on 1-9-2008 at 11:05 am
People do too live in the Polar Regions!! Or are you one of those Santa Claus non-believers?
Plus, Dijibouti may not have a great climate, but what a fun name for a country!
Where are you from?
Dijibouti
What about my booty?
posted by Witty Nickname on 1-9-2008 at 11:40 am
In 9th grade we had to do reports on an African country and I chose Djibouti. The D is actually silent so it sounds like JA-BOO-TEE. This is before internet research and wikipedia, so I thought it was pronouced DIH-JIH-BOOTY. Wrong, unfortunately. But SO much fun for a 9th grader to say!
posted by Kelly J on 1-9-2008 at 12:13 pm
I’ve never actually been to Djibouti, but in the Navy I’ve sailed past it in the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb (or the Straits of Barbara Mandrell if you couldn’t pronounce the real name). Our captain referred to Djibouti as the armpit of the world, and I concur. The heat and humidity in that part of the world is just staggering.
posted by John C on 1-9-2008 at 1:51 pm
One of my all time favorite nuggets of useless knowledge that I use to randomly quiz people from time to time is “Do you know the capital of Djibouti?” The answer is Djibouti, but since almost no one has ever heard of the country I usually get puzzled looks.
posted by Rich on 1-9-2008 at 2:18 pm
It’s in the mid-sixties in Pennsylvania
posted by John P on 1-9-2008 at 2:20 pm
I’m so happy to see a post about Kerguelen! For some reason unknown even to me, I’ve had a fascination with that place ever since I was stationed on Diego Garcia. 3,000 miles due North of Kerguelen with nothing in the way except a LOT of Indian Ocean.
posted by Jeremy on 1-9-2008 at 2:28 pm
Now you don’t have to go across the country to find extreme temperatures, you just need to visit us in Phoenix Arizona! Forget Spring we only have two seasons winter and summer. Summer starts in April and ends in October. Our summer temeratures an average of 112F degrees to 122F degrees.
posted by Lizette on 1-9-2008 at 3:44 pm
i agree with lizette. i also live in phoenix and when it rains it is the first story on the news with a chart showing how much rain each city got. it rarely rains over an inch at a time and we are sunny about 350 days of the year. you actually start praying for clouds after a while. there are no tall trees aside from palm trees, so there’s very little natural shade. mostly it is a giant suburb made of stucco and cement and freeways with little to no green.
our winters are decent but it is true desert climate conditions. it’ll be in the high 60s during the middle of the day and the low 30s at night.
we used to be able to say “at least it’s a dry heat”, but with the population boom of recent years and all the new housing subdivisions including manmade lakes somehow (we’ve been in a drought for almost a decade) the humidity has been climbing. so take that, death valley!
posted by lindsay m on 1-9-2008 at 5:01 pm
We Marylanders always say, if you don’t like the weather in Maryland, wait an hour. It was 69 degrees here yesterday; I was outside in flip flops cleaning my windows. And by this time next week, I think it’s supposed to possibly snowing. It’s kind of nice to get a break like this, but it’s also disarming and is totally screwing with my sinuses. We don’t get a lot of extremes, but our lack of consistency is something to write home about.
posted by Molly W. on 1-9-2008 at 5:08 pm
yeah, I live in northern VA and have spent many many many hours in Maryland, having gone to a school right on the DC/maryland border. People do not say that there.
posted by Uh no on 1-9-2008 at 6:57 pm
i’ve been to Djibouti c/o the United States Navy.
Luckily, i worked the night shift so the weather didn’t make me terribly miserable.
A sailors favorite game to play while over there goes like this:
Sailor A: What are our 2 favorite countries?
Sailor B:uh. i dunno.
Sailor A: IRAQ(kick sailor B in balls)and IRAN(run away.)
posted by holly on 1-9-2008 at 6:59 pm
holly, @12: We used to play that game in grade school in rural Indiana! The best games are truly universal.
posted by grey on 1-9-2008 at 9:17 pm
I second that opinion about Kentucky. That is why I moved…to the deep south.
posted by kudzuhomecomingqueen on 1-10-2008 at 7:54 am
at least PEPSIco found its way to a succesful joint venture in Jacobabad (look at the right side of the picture slightly above the mid line)
that’s what I call “multi-national”
posted by Fign on 1-10-2008 at 8:54 am
You guys in the States have nothing on Calgary (Canada). At least you have a week to go from flip flops to winter parkas, we have 2 hours. Joy of living next to the Rockies.
posted by Betty on 1-10-2008 at 4:08 pm
Uh No, I’ve lived there my whole life and we definitely say that here. Try asking someone next time you venture thither.
posted by Molly W. on 1-11-2008 at 2:50 pm