MAIN WEATHER AND CLIMATE TRAITS IN THE NORTHEN HEMISPHERE AS OF MARCH 2023
 
Air temperature
 
Abnormally cold weather that settled along the coast of the Arctic Ocean in northern Russia at the end of February enhanced its freezing strength at the beginning of March. In the first decade of the month, the anomalies of decade-averaged air temperatures from the Kola Peninsula to Chukotka amounted to -2…-8°, and new daily temperature minima reaching -45° were recorded in a number of locations, or -50° in the Magadan Region. In the rest of Russia, March started with abnormally warm weather accompanied by new daily temperature maxima in the Middle and Lower Volga, in the south of the ETR, of Yakutia and of the Far East.
In the second decade, heat intensified and drove away anomalous colds from almost all the Arctic region: instead, the records of warmth were now set over there, – as well as in the Volga region, Yakutia, the Far East and the Trans-Baikal where they continued to occur since the previous decade.
In the third decade, cold weather in the Kola Peninsula, in the north of Taimyr and partly in Kolyma and Chukotka regained its positions to some extent, but the rest of the country remained under the spell of anomalous heat. New daily temperature maxima were still recorded in the Middle and Lower Volga and in the south of the Far East, and now the Urals and Siberia joined the list.
However, March ended up with frosts in the south of the ETR.

          MAIN WEATHER AND CLIMATE TRAITS IN THE NORTHEN HEMISPHERE AS OF FEBRUARY 2023
 
Air temperature
 
In the first decade of February, the air temperatures in the north of the Urals and of the ETR were noticeably higher than normal. The decade-averaged temperature anomalies on the coast of the Kara Sea were as high as +8-11°* or more. The temperature background in the rest of the country either fluctuated around the normal value, or was sub-normal. Negative anomalies reached two or more degrees in the Crimea or the Krasnodar Territory in the south, and were -4…-6° or lower in Yakutia and in the Far East. In the Amur region, frosts reached -40° sometimes, while in Sakhalin, new daily minima as low as -35° were set. An interesting picture was observed in the Crimea: frosts were so hard that the Uchan-Su waterfall on the southern slope of the Mount Ai-Petri froze, and its entire water stream a hundred metres high turned into an ice rock.
The temperature distribution in the second decade was similar. Very cold weather in Yakutia and Chukotka resulted in new daily temperature minima down to -50…-55°, and warm weather survived in the same areas as in the first decade, in particular, leading to new daily maxima of air temperature on the coast of the Kara Sea.
But in the third decade, the weather changed quite noticeably: it remained cold in the north-east of the country only. There, the decade-averaged anomalies were -3…-5°, i.e., roughly the same as in the north of the ETR where the cold replaced the warmth of the previous February days. The rest of the Russian territory became an oasis of warmth extending from the Crimea to Primorye, featuring the decade-averaged temperature anomalies of 3-10° and producing new daily maxima recorded therein.
As a result, the monthly-averaged temperature in most of the country was 2-8° higher than normal. The weather noticeably colder than usual was observed in the east of Yakutia and in most of the Far East only (with anomalies of -2…-4°); in addition, the North Caucasus was the area of weak negative anomalies. The average temperature in February entered the top ten of most highly ranked values in the Urals only, and was outside this list in other federal districts as well as in Russia as a whole.
Regarding the overall winter season, the average air temperature may be deemed close to normal in the entire country (with a half-degree negative anomaly), basically above-normal in the ETR, and sub-normal in the ATR. The anomalies amounted to +2…4° in the European North and in Chukotka, and to -2° or lower than that in Siberia, Yakutia and most of the Far East.