SeasonMap

Extreme cold, month by month around the world

The weeks the city stops going outside — dzud, ice storms, minus thirty.

This is a warning page, not a recommendation. Extreme cold covers 49 destinations on SeasonMap; the months below are the ones in which the risk window is open — most weeks in them pass quietly, and the score beside each place is still the ordinary climate score, hazard and all.

← All seasons · The world's calendar

When it is on

Number of destinations with extreme cold on in that month. Windows move a little each year.

Extreme cold in January

  1. 🇯🇴 Petra, JordanSnow and winter closures · 5 Jan – 28 Feb (usually)Wadi Musa sits high enough to take snow in some winters, most recently in February 2024, which can shut the site for a day or two while the Siq and the Monastery steps are icy.79climate
  2. 🇱🇰 Nuwara Eliya, Sri LankaGround frost at night · 5 Jan – 25 Feb (usually)Six degrees of latitude off the equator and still frost on the tea in the small hours.76climate
  3. 🇯🇴 Amman, JordanThe cold snaps · 20 Dec – 28 Feb (usually)Amman sits high enough that a Mediterranean depression can put snow on the hills two or three times a winter.75climate
  4. 🇦🇺 Cradle Mountain, AustraliaAlpine weather in any month · 1 Jan – 31 DecSnow falls on this plateau in every month of the year and the summit track can be a whiteout in January.74climate
  5. 🇵🇸 Ramallah, PalestineThe cold snaps · 20 Dec – 28 Feb (usually)A Mediterranean depression can put snow on these hills once or twice a winter, and the steep streets and the roads out are closed for it.69climate
  6. 🇪🇸 Salamanca, SpainMeseta winter · 1 Dec – 28 FebEight hundred metres up on an open plain, so frost most mornings and a wind that finds every arcade.66climate
  7. 🇻🇳 Sapa, VietnamWinter frost on the ridge · 15 Dec – 20 Feb (usually)Frost on the terraces above town most weeks and a dusting of snow on Fansipan in some years, which brings Vietnamese visitors up specifically to see it.66climate
  8. 🇺🇸 Atlanta, United StatesWinter ice storms · 1 Jan – 28 Feb (usually)Once or twice a winter freezing rain shuts the interstates, the airport and the schools for a day or two.62climate
  9. 🇺🇸 Washington, United StatesSnow and ice shutdowns · 5 Jan – 28 Feb (usually)A few inches closes the federal government, the schools and half the museums, and freezing rain does worse to the bridges.59climate
  10. 🇵🇰 Murree, PakistanThe snow rush · 20 Dec – 10 Feb (usually)The first heavy fall brings hundreds of thousands of cars up from Islamabad and Lahore in one weekend.52climate
  11. 🇰🇷 Sokcho, South KoreaYeongdong coast snow · 15 Dec – 28 Feb (usually)Cold air crossing the East Sea dumps on this narrow coastal strip in a way the rest of Korea never sees — a metre in a bad week.51climate
  12. 🇺🇸 St. Louis, United StatesIce storms · 15 Dec – 28 Feb (usually)The city sits on the freezing-rain line most winters, and an ice event does more damage here than snow: power out for days, the interstates closed and flights cancelled at Lambert.50climate
  13. 🇺🇸 Louisville, United StatesWinter ice storms · 1 Jan – 28 Feb (usually)The Ohio valley sits on the line where southern moisture meets cold air, so the winter problem here is freezing rain rather than snow.50climate
  14. 🇺🇸 Portland, United StatesFreezing rain and ice storms · 15 Dec – 20 Feb (usually)East wind out of the Gorge meets valley cold and glazes the city in freezing rain most winters.49climate
  15. 🇹🇷 Van, TurkeyExtreme cold and snow closures · 1 Dec – 28 Feb (usually)January and February lows regularly fall below -20C, and a single storm can bury mountain roads: heavy snow in January 2026 cut off roughly ninety village roads around Van alone.46climate
  16. 🇦🇫 Kabul, AfghanistanWinter cold and smoke · 1 Dec – 28 FebWinters are severe by South Asian standards and the city heats itself with whatever will burn, so the cold and the air arrive together.45climate
  17. 🇺🇸 Zion National Park, United StatesIce on the high trails · 1 Dec – 28 Feb (usually)The shaded switchbacks up to Angels Landing and the East Rim glaze over for weeks and the park closes sections outright after a storm.43climate
  18. 🇺🇸 Cleveland, United StatesLake-effect snow season · 15 Nov – 15 MarCold air crossing an unfrozen Lake Erie dumps bands of snow on the eastern suburbs while downtown stays dry, and the split can be thirty centimetres over fifteen miles.43climate
  19. 🇮🇳 Srinagar, IndiaChillai Kalan · 21 Dec – 31 JanThe forty days the valley counts as the real winter: pipes freeze, parts of the Dal ice over, and heavy snow shuts the Jawahar tunnel and grounds flights for a day at a time.42climate
  20. 🇺🇸 Bozeman, United StatesDeep cold snaps · 15 Dec – 20 Feb (usually)Arctic air spills over the divide a few times each winter and holds the valley below minus twenty for days.40climate
  21. 🇺🇸 Detroit, United StatesDeep winter and lake-effect snow · 10 Dec – 1 Mar (usually)Two months of grey, freezing days with the wind coming off the lakes and a snow event most weeks.39climate
  22. 🇹🇷 Kars, TurkeyDeep winter on the plateau · 1 Dec – 15 Mar (usually)Four months of lying snow on average at 1,800 m, and the town takes it seriously: double doors, stoves going all day, and roads out to Ani and the Georgian border that close without much warning.38climate
  23. 🇺🇸 Shenandoah National Park, United StatesSkyline Drive ice closures · 1 Dec – 15 Mar (usually)The only road through the park sits on an exposed ridge and shuts in sections for ice and snow, sometimes for days.37climate
  24. 🇦🇩 Soldeu, AndorraPort d'Envalira snow closures · 1 Dec – 31 MarThe pass above the resort is the highest paved road in the Pyrenees and the French approach shuts or goes to chains in heavy snow.37climate
  25. 🇨🇦 Toronto, CanadaDeep freeze and ice storms · 15 Dec – 28 Feb (usually)The city issues extreme cold alerts most winters and the wind off the lake takes several degrees off whatever the thermometer says.36climate

…and 19 more in January.

What's on around the world in January →

Extreme cold in February

  1. 🇱🇰 Nuwara Eliya, Sri LankaGround frost at night · 5 Jan – 25 Feb (usually)Six degrees of latitude off the equator and still frost on the tea in the small hours.83climate
  2. 🇯🇴 Petra, JordanSnow and winter closures · 5 Jan – 28 Feb (usually)Wadi Musa sits high enough to take snow in some winters, most recently in February 2024, which can shut the site for a day or two while the Siq and the Monastery steps are icy.82climate
  3. 🇯🇴 Amman, JordanThe cold snaps · 20 Dec – 28 Feb (usually)Amman sits high enough that a Mediterranean depression can put snow on the hills two or three times a winter.80climate
  4. 🇪🇸 Salamanca, SpainMeseta winter · 1 Dec – 28 FebEight hundred metres up on an open plain, so frost most mornings and a wind that finds every arcade.73climate
  5. 🇵🇸 Ramallah, PalestineThe cold snaps · 20 Dec – 28 Feb (usually)A Mediterranean depression can put snow on these hills once or twice a winter, and the steep streets and the roads out are closed for it.73climate
  6. 🇻🇳 Sapa, VietnamWinter frost on the ridge · 15 Dec – 20 Feb (usually)Frost on the terraces above town most weeks and a dusting of snow on Fansipan in some years, which brings Vietnamese visitors up specifically to see it.71climate
  7. 🇦🇺 Cradle Mountain, AustraliaAlpine weather in any month · 1 Jan – 31 DecSnow falls on this plateau in every month of the year and the summit track can be a whiteout in January.71climate
  8. 🇺🇸 Atlanta, United StatesWinter ice storms · 1 Jan – 28 Feb (usually)Once or twice a winter freezing rain shuts the interstates, the airport and the schools for a day or two.69climate
  9. 🇺🇸 Washington, United StatesSnow and ice shutdowns · 5 Jan – 28 Feb (usually)A few inches closes the federal government, the schools and half the museums, and freezing rain does worse to the bridges.63climate
  10. 🇺🇸 St. Louis, United StatesIce storms · 15 Dec – 28 Feb (usually)The city sits on the freezing-rain line most winters, and an ice event does more damage here than snow: power out for days, the interstates closed and flights cancelled at Lambert.62climate
  11. 🇺🇸 Louisville, United StatesWinter ice storms · 1 Jan – 28 Feb (usually)The Ohio valley sits on the line where southern moisture meets cold air, so the winter problem here is freezing rain rather than snow.59climate
  12. 🇰🇷 Sokcho, South KoreaYeongdong coast snow · 15 Dec – 28 Feb (usually)Cold air crossing the East Sea dumps on this narrow coastal strip in a way the rest of Korea never sees — a metre in a bad week.57climate
  13. 🇵🇰 Murree, PakistanThe snow rush · 20 Dec – 10 Feb (usually)The first heavy fall brings hundreds of thousands of cars up from Islamabad and Lahore in one weekend.57climate
  14. 🇺🇸 Portland, United StatesFreezing rain and ice storms · 15 Dec – 20 Feb (usually)East wind out of the Gorge meets valley cold and glazes the city in freezing rain most winters.55climate
  15. 🇺🇸 Cleveland, United StatesLake-effect snow season · 15 Nov – 15 MarCold air crossing an unfrozen Lake Erie dumps bands of snow on the eastern suburbs while downtown stays dry, and the split can be thirty centimetres over fifteen miles.54climate
  16. 🇺🇸 Zion National Park, United StatesIce on the high trails · 1 Dec – 28 Feb (usually)The shaded switchbacks up to Angels Landing and the East Rim glaze over for weeks and the park closes sections outright after a storm.52climate
  17. 🇦🇫 Kabul, AfghanistanWinter cold and smoke · 1 Dec – 28 FebWinters are severe by South Asian standards and the city heats itself with whatever will burn, so the cold and the air arrive together.51climate
  18. 🇹🇷 Van, TurkeyExtreme cold and snow closures · 1 Dec – 28 Feb (usually)January and February lows regularly fall below -20C, and a single storm can bury mountain roads: heavy snow in January 2026 cut off roughly ninety village roads around Van alone.50climate
  19. 🇺🇸 Detroit, United StatesDeep winter and lake-effect snow · 10 Dec – 1 Mar (usually)Two months of grey, freezing days with the wind coming off the lakes and a snow event most weeks.49climate
  20. 🇺🇸 Shenandoah National Park, United StatesSkyline Drive ice closures · 1 Dec – 15 Mar (usually)The only road through the park sits on an exposed ridge and shuts in sections for ice and snow, sometimes for days.47climate
  21. 🇹🇷 Kars, TurkeyDeep winter on the plateau · 1 Dec – 15 Mar (usually)Four months of lying snow on average at 1,800 m, and the town takes it seriously: double doors, stoves going all day, and roads out to Ani and the Georgian border that close without much warning.46climate
  22. 🇺🇸 Bozeman, United StatesDeep cold snaps · 15 Dec – 20 Feb (usually)Arctic air spills over the divide a few times each winter and holds the valley below minus twenty for days.45climate
  23. 🇦🇩 Soldeu, AndorraPort d'Envalira snow closures · 1 Dec – 31 MarThe pass above the resort is the highest paved road in the Pyrenees and the French approach shuts or goes to chains in heavy snow.45climate
  24. 🇺🇸 Traverse City, United StatesLake-effect snow season · 15 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)Bands of lake-effect snow off Lake Michigan can drop several inches an hour onto the peninsulas and the roads around the bay, and the region's seasonal total of well over a hundred inches mostly falls between late November and March.44climate
  25. 🇨🇦 Toronto, CanadaDeep freeze and ice storms · 15 Dec – 28 Feb (usually)The city issues extreme cold alerts most winters and the wind off the lake takes several degrees off whatever the thermometer says.42climate

…and 18 more in February.

What's on around the world in February →

Extreme cold in March

  1. 🇦🇺 Cradle Mountain, AustraliaAlpine weather in any month · 1 Jan – 31 DecSnow falls on this plateau in every month of the year and the summit track can be a whiteout in January.65climate
  2. 🇺🇸 Cleveland, United StatesLake-effect snow season · 15 Nov – 15 MarCold air crossing an unfrozen Lake Erie dumps bands of snow on the eastern suburbs while downtown stays dry, and the split can be thirty centimetres over fifteen miles.63climate
  3. 🇺🇸 Detroit, United StatesDeep winter and lake-effect snow · 10 Dec – 1 Mar (usually)Two months of grey, freezing days with the wind coming off the lakes and a snow event most weeks.62climate
  4. 🇺🇸 Shenandoah National Park, United StatesSkyline Drive ice closures · 1 Dec – 15 Mar (usually)The only road through the park sits on an exposed ridge and shuts in sections for ice and snow, sometimes for days.57climate
  5. 🇹🇷 Kars, TurkeyDeep winter on the plateau · 1 Dec – 15 Mar (usually)Four months of lying snow on average at 1,800 m, and the town takes it seriously: double doors, stoves going all day, and roads out to Ani and the Georgian border that close without much warning.56climate
  6. 🇺🇸 Traverse City, United StatesLake-effect snow season · 15 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)Bands of lake-effect snow off Lake Michigan can drop several inches an hour onto the peninsulas and the roads around the bay, and the region's seasonal total of well over a hundred inches mostly falls between late November and March.54climate
  7. 🇷🇺 Chita, RussiaExtreme cold season · 1 Nov – 15 Mar (usually)Winters here are severely continental: January averages around -24.6°C and the mercury has fallen as low as -49.6°C.53climate
  8. 🇦🇩 Soldeu, AndorraPort d'Envalira snow closures · 1 Dec – 31 MarThe pass above the resort is the highest paved road in the Pyrenees and the French approach shuts or goes to chains in heavy snow.48climate
  9. 🇷🇺 Murmansk, RussiaBlizzards and road closures · 15 Nov – 15 Apr (usually)The wind off the Barents drifts the roads shut faster than the cold does; the Teriberka road and the Kola highway close for hours or days at a time in a storm.45climate
  10. 🇷🇺 Yakutsk, RussiaDeep winter · 20 Nov – 5 Mar (usually)The coldest city of its size anywhere, built on permafrost with its buildings up on piles and its pipes above ground.40climate
  11. 🇷🇺 Magadan, RussiaDeep winter · 1 Dec – 5 Mar (usually)Coastal, so milder than the Kolyma interior behind it, but still months of hard frost with wind coming straight off the frozen sea.39climate

What's on around the world in March →

Extreme cold in April

  1. 🇷🇺 Murmansk, RussiaBlizzards and road closures · 15 Nov – 15 Apr (usually)The wind off the Barents drifts the roads shut faster than the cold does; the Teriberka road and the Kola highway close for hours or days at a time in a storm.57climate
  2. 🇦🇺 Cradle Mountain, AustraliaAlpine weather in any month · 1 Jan – 31 DecSnow falls on this plateau in every month of the year and the summit track can be a whiteout in January.54climate

What's on around the world in April →

Extreme cold in May

  1. 🇳🇿 Tongariro, New ZealandCrossing in winter conditions · 1 May – 31 Oct (usually)From May to October the Crossing is an alpine route: ice axe, crampons and the skills to use them, or a guide.51climate
  2. 🇦🇺 Cradle Mountain, AustraliaAlpine weather in any month · 1 Jan – 31 DecSnow falls on this plateau in every month of the year and the summit track can be a whiteout in January.41climate

What's on around the world in May →

Extreme cold in June

  1. 🇵🇪 Puno, PeruFreezing nights on the altiplano · 1 Jun – 15 Aug (usually)At 3,800 m the dry-season nights drop below freezing in rooms with no heating, while the midday sun burns hard enough that the hospital treats sunburn off the slow boats most days of July and August.82climate
  2. 🇧🇴 Potosí, BoliviaFreezing nights above 4,000 m · 1 Jun – 15 Aug (usually)Potosí is one of the highest cities in the world and the dry-season nights go well below zero in buildings that are almost never heated.80climate
  3. 🇧🇴 Uyuni, BoliviaThe cold nights · 1 Jun – 31 AugMidwinter nights on the salt and at the lagoon refuges go far below freezing with no heating worth the name.77climate
  4. 🇦🇺 Uluru, AustraliaFreezing desert nights · 1 Jun – 15 Aug (usually)The days that make winter the walking season come with nights below zero and frost on the spinifex before dawn.70climate
  5. 🇳🇿 Tongariro, New ZealandCrossing in winter conditions · 1 May – 31 Oct (usually)From May to October the Crossing is an alpine route: ice axe, crampons and the skills to use them, or a guide.49climate
  6. 🇦🇺 Cradle Mountain, AustraliaAlpine weather in any month · 1 Jan – 31 DecSnow falls on this plateau in every month of the year and the summit track can be a whiteout in January.36climate

What's on around the world in June →

Extreme cold in July

  1. 🇵🇪 Puno, PeruFreezing nights on the altiplano · 1 Jun – 15 Aug (usually)At 3,800 m the dry-season nights drop below freezing in rooms with no heating, while the midday sun burns hard enough that the hospital treats sunburn off the slow boats most days of July and August.82climate
  2. 🇧🇴 Potosí, BoliviaFreezing nights above 4,000 m · 1 Jun – 15 Aug (usually)Potosí is one of the highest cities in the world and the dry-season nights go well below zero in buildings that are almost never heated.81climate
  3. 🇧🇴 Uyuni, BoliviaThe cold nights · 1 Jun – 31 AugMidwinter nights on the salt and at the lagoon refuges go far below freezing with no heating worth the name.78climate
  4. 🇦🇺 Uluru, AustraliaFreezing desert nights · 1 Jun – 15 Aug (usually)The days that make winter the walking season come with nights below zero and frost on the spinifex before dawn.72climate
  5. 🇳🇿 Tongariro, New ZealandCrossing in winter conditions · 1 May – 31 Oct (usually)From May to October the Crossing is an alpine route: ice axe, crampons and the skills to use them, or a guide.42climate
  6. 🇦🇺 Cradle Mountain, AustraliaAlpine weather in any month · 1 Jan – 31 DecSnow falls on this plateau in every month of the year and the summit track can be a whiteout in January.29climate

What's on around the world in July →

Extreme cold in August

  1. 🇵🇪 Puno, PeruFreezing nights on the altiplano · 1 Jun – 15 Aug (usually)At 3,800 m the dry-season nights drop below freezing in rooms with no heating, while the midday sun burns hard enough that the hospital treats sunburn off the slow boats most days of July and August.83climate
  2. 🇧🇴 Potosí, BoliviaFreezing nights above 4,000 m · 1 Jun – 15 Aug (usually)Potosí is one of the highest cities in the world and the dry-season nights go well below zero in buildings that are almost never heated.81climate
  3. 🇧🇴 Uyuni, BoliviaThe cold nights · 1 Jun – 31 AugMidwinter nights on the salt and at the lagoon refuges go far below freezing with no heating worth the name.79climate
  4. 🇦🇺 Uluru, AustraliaFreezing desert nights · 1 Jun – 15 Aug (usually)The days that make winter the walking season come with nights below zero and frost on the spinifex before dawn.77climate
  5. 🇳🇿 Tongariro, New ZealandCrossing in winter conditions · 1 May – 31 Oct (usually)From May to October the Crossing is an alpine route: ice axe, crampons and the skills to use them, or a guide.46climate
  6. 🇦🇺 Cradle Mountain, AustraliaAlpine weather in any month · 1 Jan – 31 DecSnow falls on this plateau in every month of the year and the summit track can be a whiteout in January.32climate

What's on around the world in August →

Extreme cold in September

  1. 🇳🇿 Tongariro, New ZealandCrossing in winter conditions · 1 May – 31 Oct (usually)From May to October the Crossing is an alpine route: ice axe, crampons and the skills to use them, or a guide.47climate
  2. 🇦🇺 Cradle Mountain, AustraliaAlpine weather in any month · 1 Jan – 31 DecSnow falls on this plateau in every month of the year and the summit track can be a whiteout in January.39climate

What's on around the world in September →

Extreme cold in October

  1. 🇳🇿 Tongariro, New ZealandCrossing in winter conditions · 1 May – 31 Oct (usually)From May to October the Crossing is an alpine route: ice axe, crampons and the skills to use them, or a guide.55climate
  2. 🇦🇺 Cradle Mountain, AustraliaAlpine weather in any month · 1 Jan – 31 DecSnow falls on this plateau in every month of the year and the summit track can be a whiteout in January.49climate

What's on around the world in October →

Extreme cold in November

  1. 🇺🇸 Cleveland, United StatesLake-effect snow season · 15 Nov – 15 MarCold air crossing an unfrozen Lake Erie dumps bands of snow on the eastern suburbs while downtown stays dry, and the split can be thirty centimetres over fifteen miles.65climate
  2. 🇺🇸 Traverse City, United StatesLake-effect snow season · 15 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)Bands of lake-effect snow off Lake Michigan can drop several inches an hour onto the peninsulas and the roads around the bay, and the region's seasonal total of well over a hundred inches mostly falls between late November and March.59climate
  3. 🇦🇺 Cradle Mountain, AustraliaAlpine weather in any month · 1 Jan – 31 DecSnow falls on this plateau in every month of the year and the summit track can be a whiteout in January.58climate
  4. 🇷🇺 Chita, RussiaExtreme cold season · 1 Nov – 15 Mar (usually)Winters here are severely continental: January averages around -24.6°C and the mercury has fallen as low as -49.6°C.39climate
  5. 🇷🇺 Murmansk, RussiaBlizzards and road closures · 15 Nov – 15 Apr (usually)The wind off the Barents drifts the roads shut faster than the cold does; the Teriberka road and the Kola highway close for hours or days at a time in a storm.35climate
  6. 🇷🇺 Yakutsk, RussiaDeep winter · 20 Nov – 5 Mar (usually)The coldest city of its size anywhere, built on permafrost with its buildings up on piles and its pipes above ground.31climate

What's on around the world in November →

Extreme cold in December

  1. 🇯🇴 Amman, JordanThe cold snaps · 20 Dec – 28 Feb (usually)Amman sits high enough that a Mediterranean depression can put snow on the hills two or three times a winter.78climate
  2. 🇵🇸 Ramallah, PalestineThe cold snaps · 20 Dec – 28 Feb (usually)A Mediterranean depression can put snow on these hills once or twice a winter, and the steep streets and the roads out are closed for it.72climate
  3. 🇻🇳 Sapa, VietnamWinter frost on the ridge · 15 Dec – 20 Feb (usually)Frost on the terraces above town most weeks and a dusting of snow on Fansipan in some years, which brings Vietnamese visitors up specifically to see it.70climate
  4. 🇪🇸 Salamanca, SpainMeseta winter · 1 Dec – 28 FebEight hundred metres up on an open plain, so frost most mornings and a wind that finds every arcade.65climate
  5. 🇦🇫 Kabul, AfghanistanWinter cold and smoke · 1 Dec – 28 FebWinters are severe by South Asian standards and the city heats itself with whatever will burn, so the cold and the air arrive together.64climate
  6. 🇵🇰 Murree, PakistanThe snow rush · 20 Dec – 10 Feb (usually)The first heavy fall brings hundreds of thousands of cars up from Islamabad and Lahore in one weekend.64climate
  7. 🇦🇺 Cradle Mountain, AustraliaAlpine weather in any month · 1 Jan – 31 DecSnow falls on this plateau in every month of the year and the summit track can be a whiteout in January.62climate
  8. 🇺🇸 St. Louis, United StatesIce storms · 15 Dec – 28 Feb (usually)The city sits on the freezing-rain line most winters, and an ice event does more damage here than snow: power out for days, the interstates closed and flights cancelled at Lambert.59climate
  9. 🇮🇳 Srinagar, IndiaChillai Kalan · 21 Dec – 31 JanThe forty days the valley counts as the real winter: pipes freeze, parts of the Dal ice over, and heavy snow shuts the Jawahar tunnel and grounds flights for a day at a time.57climate
  10. 🇰🇷 Sokcho, South KoreaYeongdong coast snow · 15 Dec – 28 Feb (usually)Cold air crossing the East Sea dumps on this narrow coastal strip in a way the rest of Korea never sees — a metre in a bad week.56climate
  11. 🇹🇷 Van, TurkeyExtreme cold and snow closures · 1 Dec – 28 Feb (usually)January and February lows regularly fall below -20C, and a single storm can bury mountain roads: heavy snow in January 2026 cut off roughly ninety village roads around Van alone.54climate
  12. 🇺🇸 Cleveland, United StatesLake-effect snow season · 15 Nov – 15 MarCold air crossing an unfrozen Lake Erie dumps bands of snow on the eastern suburbs while downtown stays dry, and the split can be thirty centimetres over fifteen miles.51climate
  13. 🇺🇸 Zion National Park, United StatesIce on the high trails · 1 Dec – 28 Feb (usually)The shaded switchbacks up to Angels Landing and the East Rim glaze over for weeks and the park closes sections outright after a storm.50climate
  14. 🇺🇸 Detroit, United StatesDeep winter and lake-effect snow · 10 Dec – 1 Mar (usually)Two months of grey, freezing days with the wind coming off the lakes and a snow event most weeks.46climate
  15. 🇺🇸 Portland, United StatesFreezing rain and ice storms · 15 Dec – 20 Feb (usually)East wind out of the Gorge meets valley cold and glazes the city in freezing rain most winters.45climate
  16. 🇨🇦 Toronto, CanadaDeep freeze and ice storms · 15 Dec – 28 Feb (usually)The city issues extreme cold alerts most winters and the wind off the lake takes several degrees off whatever the thermometer says.44climate
  17. 🇺🇸 Shenandoah National Park, United StatesSkyline Drive ice closures · 1 Dec – 15 Mar (usually)The only road through the park sits on an exposed ridge and shuts in sections for ice and snow, sometimes for days.42climate
  18. 🇺🇸 Bozeman, United StatesDeep cold snaps · 15 Dec – 20 Feb (usually)Arctic air spills over the divide a few times each winter and holds the valley below minus twenty for days.42climate
  19. 🇹🇷 Kars, TurkeyDeep winter on the plateau · 1 Dec – 15 Mar (usually)Four months of lying snow on average at 1,800 m, and the town takes it seriously: double doors, stoves going all day, and roads out to Ani and the Georgian border that close without much warning.42climate
  20. 🇦🇩 Soldeu, AndorraPort d'Envalira snow closures · 1 Dec – 31 MarThe pass above the resort is the highest paved road in the Pyrenees and the French approach shuts or goes to chains in heavy snow.41climate
  21. 🇺🇸 Traverse City, United StatesLake-effect snow season · 15 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)Bands of lake-effect snow off Lake Michigan can drop several inches an hour onto the peninsulas and the roads around the bay, and the region's seasonal total of well over a hundred inches mostly falls between late November and March.41climate
  22. 🇺🇸 Theodore Roosevelt National Park, United StatesDeep winter cold · 1 Dec – 28 FebThe northern plains do minus thirty with wind behind it, sections of the park roads go unplowed, and a breakdown out here is a serious problem.36climate
  23. 🇨🇳 Ürümqi, ChinaThe deep cold · 1 Dec – 20 Feb (usually)One of the most continental cities on Earth, and it shows for about three months.36climate
  24. 🇨🇦 Edmonton, CanadaDeep cold snaps · 1 Dec – 28 FebArctic air settles over the city for stretches of a week and extreme cold warnings become routine.31climate
  25. 🇨🇦 Winnipeg, CanadaDeep cold · 15 Dec – 20 Feb (usually)Weeks at a time below minus twenty with a wind off the prairie behind it, which is why downtown is connected by tunnels and skywalks.31climate

…and 14 more in December.

What's on around the world in December →