29.03.2024

Moscow Breaks 100-Year May Heat Records

Moscow has beaten temperature records over 100 years old for the second day in a row Tuesday. “It hasn’t been as warm as today on this date in the entire history of weather observations,” said the Fobos weather center.

The mercury in the Russian capital rose to 29.2 degrees Celsius, beating the previous record set in 1897 by 0.1 degrees.

Temperatures are likely to climb higher and reach around 33 C later in the afternoon, when they will approach an all-time May record of 33.2 C that was set on May 28, 2007, Fobos said.

Tuesday’s record comes one day after temperatures in Moscow broke the May 17 record, with 30.4 C edging out the 30.0 C set in 1897.

The Moscow branch of Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry urged residents to stay hydrated and avoid exposure to sunlight as it warned of temperatures climbing as high as 32 C.

The Moscow region branch said some areas will swelter through 35 C heat.

The rest of European Russia has also set dozens of heat records in what Fobos said was a warm front coming from Central Asia.

Temperatures averaged 7-14 C higher than the climatic norm, Fobos said, while abnormal heat has stayed in the Urals and the Volga River regions for about a week.

Temperatures to Soar in Russia in Coming Days, Top Meteorologist Predicts

Several Russian regions will experience “extreme hot weather” over the next few days, chief scientist at the Hydrometeorological Centre of Russia Roman Vilfand told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.

The freak weather conditions are expected to be most severe in the Volga River region and the Ural Mountains. Temperatures in these areas could rise to 37 degrees Celsius, 8-13 C higher than normal for this time of year. Such extreme heat threatens people’s health and could provoke forest fires in some regions, Vilfand added.

The heatwave has been raging through Siberia and European parts of Russia for two weeks, with Moscow and St. Petersburg seeing a rapid shift from snow to record heat in the space of just ten days. Some areas around the Arctic Circle were as hot as beaches in Southern France and Italy.

Temperatures in Ufa, Samara, and Orenburg rose to 31-32 C May 22, smashing heat records. Areas around Chelyabinsk, Ekaterinburg, Perm and Omsk are also experiencing unusual heat, which is likely to persist in the Ural and Volga regions for at least five days, Vilfand said.

Last year, a similar heatwave led to an especially destructive fire season in Russia.

Extreme weather events in Russia have doubled in frequency in the last 20-25 years, Vilfand said in an interview with the Ura.ru news website last year.

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