What is the lowest natural temperature recorded?

About −89.2 °C at Vostok, Antarctica

Weather Records Challenge – A 10-Question Trivia Quiz

This weather records challenge covers the hottest and coldest temperatures, the wettest places, the windiest gust, the biggest hailstone, the most snow in a year and the longest dry spells on Earth. A 10-question trivia quiz with answers about extreme weather records.

Start Weather Records Challenge

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Hot
What is the highest official air temperature recorded?
Cold
What is the lowest natural temperature recorded?
Wet
Which place has one of the highest average annual rainfalls?
Dry
Which place may have gone about 14 years without rain?
Gust
Where was the strongest non-tornado wind gust recorded?
Hail
Where did the heaviest hailstone fall, about 1 kilogram?
Snow
Which US mountain holds the record for most snow in a season?
Rain day
Where did about 1.8 meters of rain fall in 24 hours?
Temperature swing
Which US town saw a temperature change of 57 °C in 24 hours?
Lightning
Where was the longest-lasting single lightning flash recorded?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: What is the highest official air temperature recorded?
Answer: 56.7 °C in Death Valley
Libya's claim was rejected in 2012.
Q2: What is the lowest natural temperature recorded?
Answer: About −89.2 °C at Vostok, Antarctica
It was recorded in 1983.
Q3: Which place has one of the highest average annual rainfalls?
Answer: Mawsynram, India
About 11.8 meters a year.
Q4: Which place may have gone about 14 years without rain?
Answer: Arica, Chile
The Atacama is extremely dry.
Q5: Where was the strongest non-tornado wind gust recorded?
Answer: Barrow Island, Australia
It reached 408 km/h in 1996.
Q6: Where did the heaviest hailstone fall, about 1 kilogram?
Answer: Bangladesh
It fell in 1986.
Q7: Which US mountain holds the record for most snow in a season?
Answer: Mount Baker
About 29 meters in 1998-99.
Q8: Where did about 1.8 meters of rain fall in 24 hours?
Answer: Réunion
It happened during a 1966 cyclone.
Q9: Which US town saw a temperature change of 57 °C in 24 hours?
Answer: Loma, Montana
It happened in 1972.
Q10: Where was the longest-lasting single lightning flash recorded?
Answer: Uruguay and Argentina
It lasted over 17 seconds in 2020.

Weather Records Challenge – Weather at the Extremes

Weather records show how extreme our planet can be. Death Valley holds the hottest official air temperature, while Antarctica's Vostok Station holds the coldest. Mawsynram in India receives some of the most rain, and parts of Chile's Atacama may go years without any.

Wind, hail and snow records are just as dramatic. A cyclone produced a 408 km/h gust in Australia, Bangladesh saw hailstones weighing about a kilogram and Mount Baker received nearly 29 meters of snow in one season.

The World Meteorological Organization verifies records carefully, sometimes rejecting old claims. As the climate warms, new heat records are being set more often, while cold records become rarer.

What This Quiz Teaches

This challenge is for weather fans exploring records.

Where it was hottest
Where it was coldest
Where it rains most
What the strongest gust was
Who verifies records

Did You Know?

The WMO keeps an archive of weather extremes.
Commonwealth Bay is one of the windiest places.
Yakutsk is the coldest major city.
Dallol is very hot on average.
Some records are later disqualified.