The Most Miserable Weather on Earth

Miserable weather is weather that is usually extreme and makes outdoors activity or daily life difficult. In other words, it makes you miserable. Usually weather is more miserable in cold climates, because it impacts life more. That is why people don't live in Antarctica, but happily flock to Arizona. . Besides that, cold weather usually involves clouds and dark, which can cause Seasonal Affective Disorder, where less daylight messes up brain chemicals like melatonin and your internal clock. People don't think of sunlight when they think of sadness.Persistent cloud cover and rain, as well as very hot and humid days, are also considered depressing, so I will include some very hot places and cloudy places, of course.

If you know about places that have absolutely no redeeming features and are all around terrible, you know about Norilsk. It is polluted and full of massive ugly apartment blocks, miles from anywhere, and the main employment is nickel mining.  Also, it's in Russia. And the weather definitely contributes to it being one of the most depressing places on Earth. As it experiences two months of polar night with no sun, residents frequently use sun lamps and the like to cope. It also has lots of snow and wind, snow covers the ground 270 days a year, and consistent winds of 15+ mph make it feel colder than it actually is. As I write this (January), it is -27 F (-32 C) in Norilsk, but the feels like is -62 F (-52 C).

Oymyakon is the coldest inhabited place anywhere in the world. The record low is -90 F (-67 C), and there was once an unofficial reading, in 1924, of -96 F (-71 C). I have no clue how people chose to live here. On average, you are suffering through a low of -55 F (-48 C). Daily life must be impossible if what would be considered extreme cold in the coldest parts of the US is the norm (yeah Europe I'm afraid you're not that cold).

The coldest capital city in the world, and quite polluted as well. It is reminiscent of Norilsk, as it is smoggy and criminally cold. The traffic is also atrocious, with walking being a better idea over short distances (however as it is routinely -20 F (-30 C) there a re doubts as to the comfortability of this). The pollution is also at it's worst in the depths of winter, when most heat for houses is generated by coal. On the plus side, there is no polar night.

1. Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

2.Chruchill, Manitoba

3. Anywhere in Siberia or north-central Russia

4. Northern Canada (e.g. Yellowknife or Churchill)

5.Fairbanks

6. Yakutsk

Heat is something that I like to pretend I'm used to. But when it's 98 F (36 C) with 70% humidity on a sunny summer day in the Arkansas River Valley, no matter which way you slice it, the heat will be miserable.

I'm joking. Although a dry heat may not feel as uncomfortable, it is still dangerous. The only reason this city exists is air conditioning. The Phoenix metro has gained nearly 2.5 million people in the past 40 years. The city doesn't have a motto, but it should be "Without air conditioning this place would be uninhabited". A place where it can gets over 110 F (43 C) regularly should not really be inhabited.

Lake Charles is not as hot as Phoenix in terms of air temperature- but this city in Southwestern Louisiana brings humidity often over 80 or 90 percent in the summer. This, coupled with average highs over 90 F (32 C) makes heat indexes over 120 F (48 C) commonplace. It's the kind of humidity where it feels like a massive dog is panting on you when you step outside. It's like a wall of wet, disgusting heat. Another analogy would be the blast you get when you open an oven. I have loads of analogies for this.

If Lake Charles is the heat index capital of the US, then Dayrestan is the capital of the world. In August 2024 it recorded a heat index of 180 F (82 C). It dwarfs the record high heat index in the US of 150 F (just do it in your head) in Death Valley. Virtually any city in the Persian Gulf could be put on this list. Dubai, Kuwait City, Manama and the like.

British people are never gloomy or pessimistic, so I had my doubts as to putting this on here. Glasgow averages 170 rainy days a year, and Seathwaite, a tiny village in Cumbria, gets 140 inches of rain a year. There is a reason that the UK is called "The land of perpetual drizzle", or, in Scotland, "The land of perpetual downpour".

Some places in Northern Colombia get 450 inches of rain a year or have 300 rainy days, so they make the UK look pretty pathetic with it's mild weather (the summer of 1976). Specifically Tutunendo, which averages 448.6 inches a year, and can get over 1,000 inches in rainier years.

I know I missed places such as Cherrapunji, India or Yakutsk. Talk about it in the comments. I love weather and talking about it.