South Pole
In midsummer, as the sun reaches its maximum elevation of about 23.5 degrees, high temperatures at the South Pole in January average at . As the six-month "day" wears on and the sun gets lower, temperatures drop as well: they reach around sunset (late March) and sunrise (late September). In midwinter, the average temperature remains steady at around . The highest temperature ever recorded at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station was on Christmas Day, 2011, and the lowest was on June 23, 1982 (for comparison, the lowest temperature directly recorded anywhere on earth was at Vostok Station on July 21, 1983, though was measured indirectly by satellite in East Antarctica between Dome A and Dome F in August 2010). Mean annual temperature at the South Pole is -49.3 °C (-56.7 °F).
West Yellowstone, Montana
At almost 7,000 feet above sea level and almost exactly halfway between the equator and the North Pole, West Yellowstone experiences a subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification "Dfc"), with cold — sometimes bitterly cold — winters and brief but generally warm summers. West Yellowstone is snow-covered from the beginning of November until the beginning of May. At the peak of the snowpack, which typically occurs in early March, there are 3.5 – 4 feet of snow on the ground. In 2007-2008, West Yellowstone had snow on the ground from late October until mid May, with 4.5 feet of snow by late March. During the summer, the average low is , and the average high is . During the winter, the average low is , and the average high is . West Yellowstone holds the record low of any community in the lower 48 states at , although Rogers Pass, Montana is colder, at . However, the town's December record low of is the monthly record low for the lower 48 states.