Antarctica Hit a Record High Temperature

Antarctica’s record high temperature registered at 63.5° F (17.5° C) at the Esperanza research base on the Antarctic Peninsula, according to a data review released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Wednesday.

The record was set at the Argentine research base on March 24, 2015, Reuters reports. “Verification of maximum and minimum temperatures help us to build up a picture of the weather and climate in one of Earth’s final frontiers,” said an expert with the World Climate Research Programme, co-sponsored by the WMO.

The high for the broader Antarctic region registered at 67.6°F (19.8°C) in 1982, and the high specifically for the Antarctic plateau registered at just 19.4°F (-7.0°C) in 1980.

[Reuters]

Subscribe to TIME

Get our climate newsletter. Learn how the week’s major news story connects back to the climate crisis.

Please enter a valid email address.

* The request timed out and you did not successfully sign up. Please attempt to sign up again.

Sign Up Now

An unexpected error has occurred with your sign up. Please try again later.

Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME.

You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you!

For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.

Contact us at letters@time.com.