What are the coldest MAJOR cities in the world?

[Steely Dan]

from a thread in the skysbar that went off-topic, and because we're now entering winter proper for many northern hemisphere cities, i've become curious as to which major cities experience the coldest winter weather.

for definition purposes let's arbitrarily say that a "major city" is any place with a metropolitan area population over 3 million people, and the coldest winter weather will be determined by the average daily high temperature for the month of january (or july for the southern hemisphere, though i doubt any cities down there will qualify). i want to compile a list of all cities over 3 million people with an average january high temperature below 40 F.

here's what i've found so far:

1. harbin: -13 C/ 8 F
2. qiqihar: -13 C/9 F
3. urumqi: -8 C/18 F
4. changchun: -10 C/14 F
5. minneapolis: -6 C/22 F
6. montreal: -6 C/22 F
7. moscow: -6 C/22 F
8. shenyang: -6 C/22 F
9. anshan: -5 C/23 F
10. st. petersburg: -5 C/23 F
11. toronto: -3 C/27 F
12. pyongyang: -1 C/29 F
13. warsaw: -1 C/30 F
14. chicago: 0 C/32 F
15. detroit: 1 C/33 F
16. seoul: 1 C/33 F
17. beijing: 1 C/34 F
18. tianjin: 1 C/34 F
19. berlin: 2 C/ 35 F
20. lanzhou: 2 F/35 F
21. boston: 2 C/36 F
22. NYC: 4 C/39 F
23. philly: 4 C/39 F

can anyone find a colder major city?

[bnk]

The first two cities that came to mind were Moscow: -6 C/22 F and St. Petersburg: -5 C/23 F.
I am shocked that they are not much colder than Minneapolis: -6 C/22 F.
That is amazing IMO.

I know this does not make the cut but Winnipeg -13C/9 F can get down right brutal in the winter.

[Soaring_Higher]

I would say Anchorage, but it does not qualify as a major city by your standards.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Soaring_Higher

I would say Anchorage, but it does not qualify as a major city by your standards.

well, anchorage is on the coast and benefits from the ocean's moderating waters. inland fairbanks is much, MUCH colder than anchorage. in fact anchorage is only about as cold as minneapolis or moscow in january, on average.

but no, neither are major cities by my definition.

[Evergrey]

Harbin

[Marcu]

Oslo?

[BnaBreaker]

I don't know the specific population of any of these cities, but I think most would consider them fairly major:

Stockholm: -1C/30 F
Edmonton: -7.3C/18.9F
Kabul: 2C/36F

[Canadian Mind]

I think your standards are flawed, but w/e.

Winnipeg would take the cake.

[MayDay]

Cleveland's metro (if you include Akron) is close to 3 million (operative word - close) and ties with Detroit at 33 F/1 C.

I have to wonder how these ratings would change if you factor in the wind chill. Given Cleveland's position on Lake Erie, the wind will just zoom over the Lake from the northwest and there's nothing to stop it until it hits the lakefront. Yesterday we had temps of 25F-30F plus winds of 40-50 mph. Of course quite a few people were out and about at lunchtime, myself included. There's almost a primal sense of accomplishment from enduring that.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Harbin

holy crap, you ain't kidding. i just checked and harbin, china has nearly 10 million people and according to wikipedia has an average winter temperature of -16.8 C. i wish i could find the average january daily high for harbin so that i could add it to the list.

i think Harbin wins for planet earth's coldest major city.

[Canadian Mind]

if you factor in wind chill I wouldn't be surprised if Winnipeg's temp dropped to -40.

[slide_rule]

if i remember my old geography lessons correctly, the most extreme continental climates should be located in northeastern asia, as that continent has the largest land mass, and consequently the largest variation between heating and cooling. harbin for instance has average january lows of -11 fahrenheit. i couldn't find any siberian cities (which would probably be even colder) fitting the population criterion.

http://www.climate-zone.com/climate/...eit/harbin.htm

[MayDay]

"average january lows of -11 fahrenheit."

Okay, there's primal sense of accomplishment, and then there's just plain nuts!

[Canadian Mind]

nothing in Siberia that big.

Omsk, Novosbursk, and Krasnoyarsk are the major cities of the area though. don't ask me what the temps are, cause I dunno.

[staff]

Yakutsk doesn't qualify as a major city by your standards, but it has an average high of around -40 degrees Celsius in January.

[JManc]

sapporo? oslo?

[Austinlee]

The city of Shriveled Sack, Alaska.

[TheMeltyMan]

Montreal is warm as hell in the winter. The metro overcompensates with heat in a lot of the metros and I find myself sweating balls in the winter more often than I do in the warmer months.

[staff]

^^
Helsinki is the coldest "major" city in the Nordics.

[BTinSF]

I've been in Edmonton in January (also Oslo and Stockholm) and it gets my vote. I don't think I've been colder in a city (but I've been colder NOT in a city at Vostok, Antarctica).