Am I the only one that checks in with the webcam in Utqiagvik to see if the house on the left hand side of the image has its door wide open again? It's cold up there. Why is the damn door open so often? Maybe we should call them to let them know?
It's a normal cold porch, a place to remove the outermost layer of clothes, that may have a whole lot of snow/ice on them. Snow is shaken out of the doorway, the floor occasionally brushed clear. Door might be permanently open or closed only during snowstorms. Might not even have a lock on it to prevent freezing shut. You see these sometimes even in southern Finland. People might use these as freezers for food stuffs.
Checking words... Yep, entryway, comparable to mudroom in warmer places. The lock of the house would be in the door protected from wind and ice buildup, handling keys @-25C is much nicer to do over a floor rather than on snowbank or ice in a blastchiller wind. Might add that it's an excellent way to get your home's lock frozen shut if you open it once with a snowy key. Normally you do it at most, once in your life. The same applies of course to your car door, if you're a winter outdoors person you quite quickly learn to put out or take with you some antifreezing oil when parking over in nature.