During the southern hemisphere winter of 1983, temperatures at Russia’s Vostok research station in Antarctica plunged to a frighteningly cold minus 128.6 degrees Fahrenheit, which is 54 degrees colder than the winter average there and the coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth.

Scientists have now figured out why it got so cold.

For comparison, the coldest temperature ever recorded in the lower-48 United States was minus 70 degrees F (-57 degrees C) at Rogers Pass, Mont., on Jan. 20, 1954.

An explanation for why the mercury plunged precipitously during a 10-day period in July of 1983 (winter in Earth’s Southern Hemisphere) to that minus 128.6 F (minus 89.2 degrees Celsius) temperature has long eluded scientists.

Source/Full Story: Yahoo! News