The climate of the Far East cannot but surprise with its uniqueness not only the guests of our country, but also many of its inhabitants, who, it would seem, could already get used to its inconstancy, temperature differences, whims and unpredictability.
In fact, you can talk about this phenomenon indefinitely, analyzing the regions separately and dwelling on each of them in detail, in the smallest details.
However, the purpose of this article is precisely to describe the climate of the Far East as a whole, while making up the general picture of natural phenomena occurring there. It’s not a secret for anyone that it is the weather conditions that in most cases become the prerequisite for the formation of a particular flora and fauna, which means that on the whole they predetermine this or that economic activity of the entire region.
What determines the weather of the Far East?
Geographically, the Far East is the most remote part of Russia from the capital. It includes Yakutia, Sakhalin, Chukotka, Kamchatka, Amur and Primorsky Territories.
It is impossible to talk about the climate in the Far East without mentioning a number of its geological features. So, approximately 75% of the aforementioned territory is occupied by plateaus and low highlands (up to 2000 m). In addition, there are many geysers in Kamchatka, more than 150 volcanoes, of which about 30, by the way, are quite active.
Possessing this kind of information, it is unlikely that anyone will be surprised to learn that the Kuril Islands and Kamchatka belong to the dangerous seismic belt of the Russian Federation.
The Far East, whose climate has been the subject of close attention of many scientists for several decades, stretches for 4, 500 thousand km along the Pacific Ocean. Here the line of collision of the Eurasian and Pacific plates runs, which contributes to the formation of mountain systems, which, incidentally, continues to this day, sometimes creating significant problems and troubles.
Very often, weather conditions in this region are created under the influence of processes occurring at the junction of lithospheric plates, as well as the interaction of warm and cold air currents.
General characteristics of the observed phenomena
As you know from school geography lessons, the Far East is located beyond the Arctic Circle, so the snow cover here does not completely disappear even in the summer.
The northern part of this territory is particularly severe, namely permafrost and tundra. In turn, the southern part is represented by a riot of spruce groves and subtropical plants.
It should be noted that climatic conditions throughout the territory are very different from each other, although one common feature is still there: everywhere there is an increased humidity. By the way, not everyone knows that the Pacific Ocean has a huge impact on the Far Eastern climate.
In general, three climatic zones dominate here: temperate, arctic, and subarctic. In the summer there is a lot of rainfall, and in winter the snow cover can reach 3 meters in thickness.
Climatic zoning
In general, the climate of the Far East belongs to one of five types:
- Chukotka weather is immediately determined by two types of climate: arctic and subarctic;
- Kamchatka Territory and the coast of the Magadan Region are located in the temperate climate zone;
- Khabarovsk Territory - in the temperate zone with sharply continental and monsoon types of climate;
- The Jewish Autonomous Region and the Amur Territory are included in the monsoon type climate zone.
Far Eastern rainfall and air masses
In cold weather, westerly winds bring Siberian dry and at the same time very frosty air (the so-called anticyclones) to the territory of the Far East, and in warm times the wind blows from the ocean, bringing cyclones, i.e. very heavy rains and cloudy weather.
It should be noted that throughout the territory precipitation falls unevenly, even in the same region.
Features of the temperature regime
The Far East, whose climate is very diverse, has a number of characteristic features in terms of temperature conditions.
Why? The thing is that as you move farther from the Pacific coast deep into the continent in the cold season, a significant increase in frost is observed. But in the warm season, the average monthly temperature of the entire territory is not very different, as a result of which the climate of the mixed forests of the Far East is very similar to the weather conditions that form on the coastal territory.
Perhaps the exception is the north of Chukotka, where in July the average air temperature can sometimes reach up to -2 ° С.
For almost the entire territory of the Far East, the average July temperature varies in the range + 10 … + 15 ° C. In the southern part of the region - at the level of + 17 … + 21 ° C.
Climate of the Russian Far East and its impact on the local flora and fauna
The diversity of vegetation in this region is a direct consequence of the presence of a complex relief system and closed basins, as well as exposure to air masses of different temperatures.
In general, the flora here is represented by various plant species, characteristic both for frozen Siberia and sultry and stuffy Asia. How is this manifested? Judge for yourself, is it not surprising when creepers, lemongrasses and grapes grow very close to Christmas trees, pines and nuts?
One cannot but pay attention to the fact that the climate of the Far East caused the presence of many varieties of animals, the most common among which are reindeer, squirrels and moose, which, incidentally, coexist perfectly with Amur tigers, rare today black deer and raccoon dogs.
