MAIN WEATHER AND CLIMATE TRAITS IN THE NORTHEN HEMISPHERE AS OF JUNE 2021
Air Temperature
Cool or occasionally even cold weather that settled in Central Russia at the end of spring gradually migrated to the beginning of summer. June started with a frosty night in the Tver and Yaroslavl Regions (air temperatures in the range of -2…-4°), and with weak frosts in the Moscow and Kaluga Regions. The average air temperature in the first decade of June was 1-2° below its normal value in the Central Black Earth regions. However, everything changed later on: from the second decade to the end of the month, abnormally hot weather was observed everywhere in the ETR. New temperature maxima were gained again and again in the area from the Russian North to the North Caucasus. Sometimes, they were recorded for several days in succession, and some of them, e.g., in Saint-Petersburg, were new absolute values ever observed in June. The thermometer readings rose above +35° and closely approached the forty-degree mark. The anomalies of heat in this territory reached 2-5° in the second decade, and 5-9° or more in the third one. As a result, the monthly-averaged temperature exceeded the normal value by 2-4 or more degrees, and this June in the ETR was ranked the hottest one in the history of meteorological observations. The rank was the same in the North-West Federal District and in the city of Saint-Petersburg in particular. This June in the Central Federal District was the hottest in the 21st century and the third hottest in history.
Another region to attain extremely high temperatures during the month was the Far East, most notably, Yakutia where the air temperature rose above 30-35° sometimes. New daily maxima were repeatedly recorded both in the south of the Far East (in the Amur and Sakhalin Regions and in the Primorye Territory) and in its north (in the Republic of Yakutia, in the Magadan Region and on the Arctic coast), with the anomalies of monthly-averaged temperatures reaching 2-5° or more. In the north, this June was the third warmest in the history of meteorological observations. Moreover, the last three years (2019-2021) occupy all the top three lines in the ranked list of monthly-averaged temperatures.
MAIN WEATHER AND CLIMATE TRAITS IN THE NORTHEN HEMISPHERE AS OF MAY 2021
Air Temperature
This May in Russia was extremely warm for the second year in succession. A year ago, the air temperature monthly-averaged over the entire territory of the country reached the absolute maximum for 130 years of regular meteorological observations. This year, the value was almost half a degree lower than the absolute maximum, but still higher than the normal one in most of the country. The only exceptions where this month was colder than usual were certain districts of the Pskov Region, and the vast areas around Baikal and further eastwards: the Trans-Baikal Territory, the Amur Region, parts of the Khabarovsk Territory, and Sakhalin. The highest positive anomalies (+4…6° and above) were observed in the areas from the Volga Region to the Pacific Ocean, including the Arctic region. This May was the warmest in the history of meteorological observations since 1891 in the Volga Region, and the second warmest in the Urals where the record-breaking result of the previous May remained unbeaten. The average air temperature in Siberia and in the north of the Far East entered the Top Ten of the highest values in the meteorological chronicle.
The weather in most of Russia was abnormally hot throughout the month. Sub-normal air temperature averages were only observed in the ETR in the first and third decades, and in the Trans-Baikal Territory, the Amur Region, Sakhalin and the south of Khabarovsk Territory in the third decade. In contrast, numerous daily temperature maxima were recorded in the Middle and South Urals, in the south of Western Siberia, on the Upper and Middle Volga, in the Russian North, in Central Russia, in the north-west and south of the country, in Yakutia and Chukotka, – for several days in a row sometimes. On the other hand, cold weather with frosts repeatedly returned to Central Russia and the south of the Urals in the first decade, to the south of Siberia, in the second, and to the north-west, in the third decade.