In Russia, this August turned out to be the warmest in the history of regular meteorological observations since 1891. In the first half of the month, the weather in the ETR was hot, and the decade-averaged temperatures exceeded the normal values by 2-5 or more degrees. New daily temperature maxima, some of them in excess of +40°, were set both in the south of the ETR in the Rostov, Volgograd and Krasnodar Regions, in the Krasnodar Territory, the Crimea and the republics of the North Caucasus, and in the north or north-west in the Arkhangelsk, Pskov, Novgorod and Kaliningrad Regions as well as in the Republic of Komi, the Novaya Zemlya and the Volga region. The weather in the third decade became noticeably colder, even with the frosts in the north of Central Russia, but still remained very hot in the south, producing temperature maxima again and again.

The Asian region was occupied by the heat for most of the month: there, the record-breaking temperatures were logged in Siberia, Yakutia, Primorye, Sakhalin and Kolyma, and the thermometers often stuck to above 30-35°. In the outcome, this August was deemed the hottest in the meteorological chronicle of the ATR.

As a result, the monthly-averaged temperatures were above-normal almost everywhere in Russia, with the exception of the north-eastern part. In the Russian North, in the central and southern regions, in the north of Siberia and in Yakutia, they were 2-4 or more degrees higher than normal. This August was the second warmest in the North-West Federal District, the third in the Siberian, and among the top ten warmest in the Central, South, Ural and Far Eastern Federal Districts.

August concluded the calendar summer which was the third hottest in the meteorological history of Russia; summer 2021 and summer 2016 were the only ones even warmer. This year, the air temperature in summer was significantly higher than normal in the north-east of the ETR, in the north of the Urals and of Siberia, in Yakutia and in the Far East. Regarding the ATR or Siberia, this summer was the hottest in history, and as for the Far East, it was the second hottest one.

The weather in most of East Asia was moderately warm, yet the monthly-averaged air temperatures were higher than normal everywhere, notably, two or more degrees higher in some areas of Mongolia, China and Japan. August in China was the hottest in history after the record-breaking August of the previous year.

The temperatures in South-East and South Asia were close to normal. In India, this August was among the top ten warmest since 1891г.

Western Asia was occupied by the intense heat. A new nation-wide temperature maximum of +49.5° was established in Turkey where the thermometers often showed above 40°, or above 45° in the east. Readings higher than 40° were sometimes recorded in Azerbaijan.

Likewise, the weather was hot in Central Asia, with the normal values exceeded by two or more degrees in some areas of Uzbekistan.

In North Africa, the average temperature in August reached a new maximum surpassing the previous one dated 2015. The thermometer readings in Morocco rose to +50.4° – a new unprecedented value ever observed in the country.

In Europe, this August was among the top five warmest in history: its monthly-averaged air temperatures were above-normal everywhere in the continent save for Denmark, the southern regions of Norway and Sweden, or partly along the coast of the North Sea, and were two or more degrees higher than usual in Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova in the east, as well as in Spain and Portugal in the south. Hot weather in the latter country repeatedly produced new temperature maxima. The heat rose to above +40° on the Iberian Peninsula, and above +30° in Estonia in the north where a new maximum of +32° was set in Tallinn.

In the Arctic, the monthly-averaged temperature in August reached a new unprecedented figure; this achievement was mostly contributed by Russia and by the north-east territories of Canada.

This August in North America was very warm, the second warmest in the history of meteorological observations in Canada and the third warmest in the US. But, in contrast to Canada where the temperature averages substantially exceeded the normal values in the north of the country, the same in the US was observed in the south; there, and in Mexico, the anomalies reached 2-3° or greater values.

Regarding the North Hemisphere as a whole, August 2023 was the hottest in the entire history of meteorological observations since 1891, dramatically surpassing the previous achievement. It should be noted that in the last five years, the monthly-averaged air temperature in each next August either exceeded or reproduced the value in the previous August to an accuracy of 0.1°C.

Similar to August, the summer 2023 became the hottest in the history of the Northern Hemisphere. It was true for the history of North Africa and Canada as well. This summer was ranked the second hottest in China, the third hottest in Russia, as noted above, and among the top ten hottest in Europe and in the Arctic.

In Moscow, the average temperature in August was +19.6°, resulting in an anomaly of +2.0° – the eighth value in the ranking list, and the temperature in summer was 0.1° above normal.

 

El Niño continued to develop its strength at the eastern equatorial latitudes of the Pacific Ocean. The area occupied by high SST anomalies expanded, their values themselves exceeded the normal values by 2-3°, and the average anomaly in the Ocean acquired the second highest position: on the average, the surface of the Ocean was even warmer in August 2019 and August 2020 only. Positive anomalies mostly concentrated at temperate latitudes all the way from China and Russia to Canada and the USA, and the average SST values in the central part of the Pacific Ocean were 2-3 or more degrees higher than normal.

The Atlantic Ocean continued its "boiling": each month from January to August, the average SST gained the record-breaking value. Positive SST anomalies in August were 1…2° in the tropical part, and 2-3° at temperate latitudes. Very warm water was observed in the Barents and Kara Seas off the coast of Russia.

According to the UN, the average SST of the World Ocean reached its all-time maximum this August.

In the ETR, precipitation in August was lacking in many constituent entities of the Federation, including the Arkhangelsk and Vologda Regions as well as the Republic of Komi in the North-West Federal District, the whole northern part of the Central F.D., all the territory of the Volga F.D. except for the Nizhny Novgorod Region, and the entire South and North-Caucasian Federal Districts. The precipitation amounts were normal or increased in the Ural F.D. excluding its northern areas, and twice greater than normal in the Chelyabinsk Region. Precipitation in the Siberian F.D. was normal or increased almost everywhere; there, the normal figures were exceeded by two times in the Altai Territory and by 1.5 times in the Kemerovo Region. In most of the Far East F.D., the precipitation amounts were also normal or increased, and very large (exceeding the normal values by 1.5 to 2.5 or more times) in Primorye and on Sakhalin.

This August, very heavy rains passed across various regions of Russia. In the first decade, downpours descended on the central and southern regions of the ETR, on the south of Siberia, as well as on Primorye and Buryatia. Up to 30-50 mm of daily precipitation was recorded there sometimes, and snow fell in the Magadan Region. In the second decade, the atmosphere generously lent rains to the Russian North, to Yakutia and Trans-Baikal, to the Primorye and Khabarovsk Territories, and to the Amur Region, and did not exempt Moscow and the Moscow Region from a heavy rain that, in some places, brought more than 20 mm of daily rainwater at the end of these days. In the third decade, flooding proceeded again in Primorye where 110 mm of rain fell in a single day in Vladivostok. This August became the rainiest in the meteorological history of the Primorye Territory.

The monsoon brought a lot of rains to China and the Korean Peninsula, in total amounts that could be called prominent, i.e., up to 1.5-3.0 of the normal monthly ones. In some places, downpours caused floods, and new maximum precipitation totals were recorded.

In South-East Asia, the monsoon also worked quite a bit sending showers; in the north of Vietnam, they caused floods and landslides, and destroyed or damaged hundreds of buildings and roads. More than forty thousand people had to be evacuated from the area of disaster, and the deaths were reported.

In India, this August was the driest in the history of the country. The monthly precipitation totals hardly reached 30% of their normal values.

Dry weather reigned in the Near and Middle East, as usual for this time of year; rains took place in the Levant countries only.

In Central Asia, individual regions received a lot of rains. Pelting rains in Tajikistan resulted in fatalities, demolished the houses and impaired the roads.

The western regions of North Africa were allotted surprisingly large amounts of rainwater: their monthly totals in many locations were either normal or above-normal.

Precipitation in Central and Eastern Europe was normal or increased, with the especially large amounts dedicated to the Baltic countries where new daily maxima were recorded in the capitals of Latvia and Lithuania. Heavy rains led to flooding in Slovenia where up to 200 mm of daily rainwater, i.e., twice the normal monthly value, fell in some places at the beginning of the month, and the monthly precipitation totals reached 100 mm. On the other hand, the weather in the west of the continent was dry. For example, a severe drought came to Spain, and the restrictions on civil water supply, inclusive of its supply to beaches, were imposed in Catalonia and Andalusia. According to the Spanish Meteorological Service, the drought in the north-east of the country was the most severe in the past sixty years.

In the USA, a lot of precipitation fell in the Rocky Mountains, in the south-west of the country, and in Alaska; there, the normal values in certain places were exceeded by 2-4 times. But the weather in the rest of the country was mostly dry. As for Canada, the precipitation quantities were excessive in the southern provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta or on the Atlantic coast, and normal or subnormal elsewhere. The countries of Central America suffered from the worst drought in the last hundred years. This drought resulted in shallowing of the Panama Canal, and the ensuing ship navigation restrictions created an extremely long queue, so that the downtime at the Canal entrance reached two weeks.

In Moscow, 67 mm of rainwater, 86% of the normal value, fell in August, and 301 mm, 125% thereof, over the three summer months.