Siberia is a huge picturesque territory, which occupies more than 60% of the total area of Russia. It lies in three climatic zones (temperate, subarctic and arctic), therefore, natural conditions and weather differ markedly in different regions of the Federation. This article describes only general information and climate features of the region.
Climate of Western Siberia
Western Siberia extends from the Ural Mountains to the Yenisei River. A large half of its territory is occupied by the West Siberian Plain. The climate in this territory is continental.
Climate features are formed from indicators of weather conditions of all subjects of the Russian Federation located in this part of Siberia. Completely in the vast expanses of Western Siberia lie the Trans-Urals, Omsk, Kemerovo, Novosibirsk and Tomsk Regions, as well as the Altai Territory and the Republic of Khakassia. Partially included here are Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk, Tyumen and Orenburg regions, the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Republic of Bashkortostan, as well as the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
Precipitation, wind
The climate of Siberia in its western part is not affected by the Atlantic air masses, since the Ural Mountains protect this territory well.
From April to September, winds prevail in Western Siberia from the Arctic Ocean and from the east. Arctic air masses come in the form of cyclones and anticyclones, bringing coolness with them.
Dry Asian winds (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan) are blowing from the south and south-west and in cold weather they bring clear and frosty weather with them.
The weather in Siberia is stable, so the average annual rainfall rarely changes in one direction or another. About 300-600 mm of atmospheric moisture falls out per year, most of it in the summer and autumn. This is a rainfall in the form of rain. About 100 mm of snow falls on almost the entire territory of Western Siberia. Of course, this is an average. For example, in the autonomous okrugs the snow cover reaches a level of 60-80 cm. By comparison, in the Omsk region this mark barely reaches 40 cm.
Temperature mode
Features of the climate of Siberia in its western part is that most of the territories there are occupied by swamps. They have a huge impact on temperature conditions, air humidity, which entails a decrease in the influence of the continental climate.
Winter in the north of Western Siberia lasts about nine months, in the center - about seven. The south was lucky a little more, where the climatic winter reigns for five months. These estimates are directly related to the average air temperature in each region. Thus, the southern part of Western Siberia has an average winter temperature of -16 ° C, and the northern one at -30 ° C.
Summer also does not please these regions, since the average temperature ranges from + 1 ° C (in the north) to + 20 ° C (in the south).
The lowest point on the thermometer was recorded at -62 ° C in the Vah River Valley.
Climate of Eastern Siberia
Located in the territory from the Yenisei to the watershed ridges of the Pacific Ocean. The climate features of Eastern Siberia are determined by its position in the temperate and cold zones. That is why it can be described as harsh and dry. Unlike Western Siberia, the climate type of Eastern Siberia is sharply continental.
Of great importance for natural conditions is that Eastern Siberia is located mainly in elevated and mountainous areas. There are no marshes, and lowlands are rare.
The following regions are in its vastness: Krasnoyarsk and Transbaikal Territories, the Republic of Yakutia, Tuva, Buryatia, as well as the Irkutsk Region. Siberia (Russia) in this part is quite severe, even unpredictable.
Precipitation, wind
In winter, the southern direction of the wind dominates in Eastern Siberia, bringing with it anticyclones from Asia. The result is the establishment of clear and frosty weather.
In spring and summer, dry Asian air also prevails in Eastern Siberia, but despite this, southerly winds are often replaced by air masses from the east that are carried by the Pacific sea winds. And the cold Arctic air is delivered here by the north.
The weather in Siberia ordered that precipitation is unevenly distributed over the area of Eastern Siberia. The smallest number of them in Yakutia: only 250-300 mm per year in almost all the expanses of the republic. Krasnoyarsk Territory is in some way a champion. It accounts for the largest amount of precipitation: from 600-800 mm (west) to 400-500 mm (east). In the rest of Eastern Siberia, the annual amount of precipitated moisture is 300-500 mm.
Temperature mode
Extremely cold in the territory of Eastern Siberia are the winter months. The temperature amplitude changes sharply depending on the transition of the continental climate in the west to the sharply continental climate of Siberia in the east. If in the south of the Krasnoyarsk Territory the average temperature of the second month of winter is about -18 ° C, then north it drops to -28 ° C, and near the city of Tour it reaches -36 ° C.
Northwest of Eastern Siberia has an average January temperature of about -30 ° C, and on the way to Norilsk and further east it drops to -38 ° C. Northern Yakutia, whose average temperature is extremely low, -50 ° C, became a champion in 1916, when the thermometer showed -82 ° C.
In the south and southwest, frosts noticeably weaken. In Yakutsk itself, this is almost imperceptible, but in the Trans-Baikal Territory and Buryatia, the average January temperature rises to -24 … -28 ° C.
The average temperature of the warmest month of the year varies from + 1 … + 7 ° C in the north of the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of Yakutia to + 8 … + 14 ° C in the central part and to + 15 … + 18 ° C in the southern. The zone of mountain ranges and hills, characteristic of such regions as the Irkutsk region, Buryatia, the Trans-Baikal Territory, becomes the cause of the uneven distribution of heat. Thus, significant differences appear in the monthly average temperatures of the spring-summer period. On average, in July, the thermometer stops at +13 to + 17 ° C. But in some places the temperature range can be much larger.
Siberia (Russia) in its eastern part is characterized by a cold climate. Winter lasts from 5-6 months (the Baikal region) to 7-8 months (the center of Yakutia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory). In the extreme north of summer, it is almost impossible to wait, since winter reigns there for about 11 months. In the central and southern parts of Eastern Siberia, the warm season (including spring and autumn) lasts from 1.5-2 to 4 months.
The climate of the northern regions of Siberia
The northern regions are located in the zone of the Arctic and subarctic zones. The territory of the Arctic deserts is continuous glaciers and impassable snow. It is impossible to meet almost no vegetation. The only oases in this kingdom of ice are mosses and lichens that can withstand low temperature fluctuations.
The climate of Siberia in this part is greatly influenced by albedo. Sun rays are constantly reflected from the surface of the snow and the ice edge, i.e. heat is repelled.
Despite the fact that the average annual precipitation is small (about 400 mm), the soil is saturated with moisture and snow very deeply and freezes.
The severe Arctic climate is aggravated by terrible hurricanes and snowstorms, which travel at great speed throughout the territory and leave traces of giant snow drifts.
Also, this part of Siberia is characterized by frequent fogs in the summertime, since ocean water evaporates from its surface.
Over the summer, the earth does not have time to warm up, and the snow melts very slowly, because the average temperature ranges from 0 to + 3 ° C.
Here you can see such unusual natural phenomena as the polar night and the northern lights.
Eternal Frost
Surprisingly, more than 60% of Russia's area is occupied by permafrost. This is mainly the area of Eastern Siberia and Transbaikalia.
Permafrost is characterized by the fact that the soil never thaws completely. In some places it is frozen a thousand meters down. In Yakutia, a record was recorded for the depth of permafrost - 1370 meters.
In Russia there is a Permafrost Museum with its own dungeon, in which you can consider this amazing phenomenon.
