From January 17 to February 5 , 1947 , Yukon , northwest Canada went through a cold spell , hitting the downhearted temperature of -64 ° C ( -84 ° F)on February 3 .
conditions observer Gordon Toolemeasured the lowest temperatureat Snag ’s bantam airport . The thermometer he used did n’t go below -62.2 ° nose candy ( -80 ° F ) , mean he had to record it by marking an additional line . It was too cold for pens to go , so he had to scratch it onto the thermometer using a band of divider .
At those temperature , people ’s breath turned to a white pulverisation in the air , cook a chink sound as it did so . As delightful as that sounds , staying out in the weather for more than a few minutes wouldcause exposed skin to freeze , and hypothermia was a big peril .
One of the eldritch effects , noticed by the house physician of Snag , Yukon , where temperature were coldest , was that sound began to travel differently . Toole , as he measured the temperature at the aerodrome , could not see more than a few meters without his sight being interpose by a cloud of frost fog . Yet he could hear dogs bark in the main village over 6 km ( 3.7 mile ) forth , and ice rink that cracked in the White River about 1.6 kilometers ( 1 mile ) off sound " crack and boomed loudly , like hit man fervidness " .
What caused these weird sound gist ? Sound does not go in the same way at different temperatures . As well as moving slower in the cold , sound also travels further , if you happen to be nigh to the land . When zephyr near the ground is cold and the air above it is warm , sounds are refract by the tender atmosphere toward the surface . The sound then bounces between the earth and the warm atmosphere , traveling much further along the footing than in warmer temperatures .
“ A temperature inversion induce wakeless waves to bend back toward the ground rather than escaping upwards , ” Environment Canada ’s aged climatologist David Phillipstold the National Post . “ citizenry at the airport could clearly take heed dogs bark in townsfolk and townspeople tattle as if they were secretive by rather of 5 kilometres [ 3 miles ] by . ”
summate to the disorientating effect of learn conversation from international nautical mile away , and the icy fog that surrounded them and diminished their vision , multitude in the town could see clouds of their frozen breath linger in the air for bit at a time .
“ It was alone to see a vapour lead several hundred yards long pursuing one as he moved about outside , " Toole say , grant to websiteCanada ’s chronicle .
" Becoming lost was of no business concern . As an percipient walked along the rails , each breathing spell remained as a tiny , motionless mist behind him at head level . These plot of ground of human breath daze remained in the still airwave for three to four minute , before fading away . One commentator even see such a lead still marking his itinerary when he returned along the same path 15 minutes later . ”
If they had become lost , of course , they could only have whisper that fact and be heard by a search and rescue squad several miles down the road .
