Russia has never been this hot

The remote Arctic town of Dikson in 2020 had about 7 °C higher temperatures than normal. (Thomas Nilsen/The Independent Barents Observer)
It was the warmest year on record across the whole country, and Arctic regions smashed the temperature norm by up to 7 °C

Russian meteorologists are bewildered by the extraordinary weather developments in the country. The year 2020 became the by far warmest ever in 130 years of measurements.

“The average air temperature on Russian territory was simply exceptional,” a statement from the weather research service Roshydromet reads.

According to the meteorologists, all of the country’s eight federal districts had a record-beating year. The only exception was the district of North Caucasus where the average temperature was the third highest.

The months of February, April, May, September and November all set national temperature records, while the months of January, March, June, July and October were among the five ever warmest on record, Roshydromet informs.

Northern deviations

The biggest deviations were found in the Arctic, where average temperature were 5-7 degrees higher than normal. The absolute warmest area was the peninsula of Taymyr where the temperature deviation was more than 7 degrees.

For the whole country, the year 2021 was two degrees higher than normal, and in the European parts of the country the deviation was three degrees, Roshydromet informs.

In the Arctic, the year ended with severe cold. But just few weeks earlier, a series of smashing heat records were set. In early December, the average temperatures along major parts of the Russian Arctic coast were up to 15 °C above normal. And in November the deviation from normality in the region was set to 12 °C.

Related stories from around the North:

Canada:  Top 5 weather stories in the Canadian North for 2020, CBC News

Finland: Lapland temperature of -39 C marks year’s coldest day so far in Finland, Yle News

Greenland: Rise in sea level from ice melt in Greenland and Antarctica match worst-case scenario: study, CBC News

Russia: What is happening with Arctic weather? Moscow wants to know, The Independent Barents Observer

Sweden:  Reducing emissions could create up to 3,000 new jobs in Arctic Sweden says mining group, Eye on the Arctic

United States: November ranks 2nd hottest on record for the Arctic and globe, Radio Canada International

Atle Staalesen, The Independent Barents Observer

For more news from the Barents region visit The Independent Barents Observer.

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