The mystery of a strange day in Canada, traces of a long frozen breath in the air and ears hearing sounds 6 km away

Posted On: March 1, 2023

COMPAS.com – On a winter’s day, February 3, 1947, Canada’s smallest and westernmost region, the Yukon, reached its coldest temperature.

From January 17 to February 5, 1947, the Yukon was hit by extreme cold. And the temperature in the Yukon on February 3 reaches minus 64 degrees Celsius.

This extreme temperature also brings a number of oddities to the point where it is called One Strange Day in Canada.

Quoted from the page Canadian historymeteorologist Gordon Toole was measuring the temperature at Snag Airport, a small airport in the village of Snag, Yukon.

Unfortunately, his thermometer could not drop below minus 62.2 degrees Celsius.

Therefore, Toole must also save it by marking additional lines. But again, luck was not on Toole’s side.

Temperatures that are too cold prevent the pen from working. He also took the initiative to scrape it off the thermometer using a set of riving knives.

Blurred vision but fine hearing

At these extreme temperatures, people’s breath turns to vapor that disperses into the air.

As fun as it sounds, being outside in extremely cold temperatures for just a few minutes can cause your skin to freeze.

Indeed, residents of Snag Village in the Yukon region who left at that time were at risk of hypothermia or a drastic drop in temperature.

Insufficiently threatened by hypothermia, residents also struggle to penetrate the thick snowflakes that obstruct their view.

On the other hand, as mentioned IFL Sciencesa quirk ensued when the sound began to travel in a different way than usual.

Amazingly, people of the time, including Toole, felt their hearing sharpen on several occasions.

Toole, who stayed at the airport, admitted he couldn’t see a few feet ahead of him because of the cloud of frozen fog.

Surprisingly, he could hear dogs barking around the main village which was over 6 kilometers away.

Not only that, Toole’s hearing, which had suddenly become supercharged, also heard the sound of ice cracking on the Yukon River, also known as the White River.

In fact, at that time, the distance between him and the river was about 1.6 kilometers.

“Cracked and thundered like a gunshot,” Toole said.

Unsplash/Alejandro Luengo

Winter in Canada

Causes of Sharp Hearing

reported from national postexplains climatologist David Phillips, sound does not work the same way at different temperatures.

Sound or sound will travel slower in cold weather, but may travel farther.

When the air near the ground is cold and the air above is warm, the sound is refracted by the warm air towards the surface.

The sound then bounces between the ground and the warm air, and travels along the ground.

“People at the airport can clearly hear the dogs barking in the city and the townspeople are talking like they’re nearby, not 5 miles away,” Phillips said.

Not afraid to get lost

Meanwhile, according to Toole, the extreme weather conditions at that time didn’t necessarily make him afraid of getting lost. The reason for this is that everyone will leave a trail of still exhales in the air.

Traces at head height can last three to four minutes, before finally disappearing.

Therefore, if they get lost, residents can follow the trail of the breath that will lead them to their arrival.

In addition, sound that can travel up to 5-6 kilometers will also help rescue teams when someone is really lost and asks for help.

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