by Mikhail Zakharov
[REGNUM] The first month of the year in our country is traditionally associated not only with holidays, but also with snow-covered trees, ice on rivers and cold streets. However, this January in many Russian regions instead of falling snowflakes there is drizzling rain, and the snow has almost melted. There are no traditional high snowdrifts and crackling Christmas frosts - winter is more like a protracted autumn or the beginning of spring.
In the capital of Russia, the air temperature remained above zero for almost the entire first ten days of January. On the 8th, the average daily air temperature in Moscow reached +3.2, making it the warmest day since 1948.
It was very warm from Kuban (in Armavir on January 8 the thermometer reached +15.4, breaking the 1963 record) to Yekaterinburg - the warmest January 9 since 1944 was recorded there (+1.3). In general, on January 8 the daily record for maximum temperature was broken in ten cities in Russia.
Due to the unusual warmth, flies and mosquitoes wake up, young grass turns green on the lawns - for a complete picture of spring, the only thing that is missing is the singing of swallows. In the Oryol region (in January!), the mushroom season has started: on social networks, citizens are happy to share photos of winter honey mushrooms.
So in many regions of Russia, winter is clearly in decline today. Leading specialist of the Phobos weather center Evgeny Tishkovets says that in the central part of the country, the weather is in a state of "meteorological spring", since the average daily temperature exceeds zero degrees.
“The year that has begun is striking with a heat anomaly in most of our country with a positive deviation of temperature from the climate norm, which reaches 4-9, and in some places 12 degrees,” Tishkovets notes on his channel.
EVEN THE PROS HAVE THEIR CONS
As the scientific director of the Hydrometeorological Center of Russia, Roman Vilfand explains, this time the reason for the abnormally warm winter in the European part of Russia, as well as in the Urals and in parts of Siberia, was the usually rare influx of warm air masses from the Atlantic and even from the northern regions of Africa.
However, experts say such weather fluctuations are becoming more frequent due to climate change, so it is likely that we will soon have to get used to new conditions.
“ Thanks to little El Niño ( an abnormal warming of ocean waters in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean, which has a noticeable impact on the global climate. — Ed.) and the notorious global warming, ” notes meteorologist Tishkovets.
Many people are happy about the warm weather that has arrived: there is no need to wrap up in layers of winter clothing, and there is no risk of frostbite on the nose or ears in such weather.
But for some, the new weather conditions with frequent thaws, rain instead of snow and sudden temperature changes bring only disappointment - how can you enjoy the traditional winter mood? In addition, gray streets and overcast skies with the accompanying lack of sunlight can cause depression in people.
Utility workers have to switch between snow removal and ice preparation more often, and also fight rapidly growing icicles. Agricultural workers have to adapt the timing of field work to new weather conditions, and winter sports and recreation enthusiasts are finding it harder to plan their activities.
Warm winter brings changes not only to people, but also to nature. Plants that have already begun to grow may suffer from frosts or freezing rains. Wild animals that had previously hibernated also wake up in such weather. Having woken up, they will suffer from a lack of food and therefore may be aggressive.
JANUARY BREATH OF SPRING
This weekend, Moscow and central Russia as a whole will experience abnormal temperatures, writes leading specialist at Meteonovosti Tatyana Pozdnyakova. Frost will only arrive there at the beginning of next week — for now, heavy snow and cold are visiting Western Siberia, and severe frosts are only in the Far North and Yakutia.
But this cold snap will be wave-like and not very strong, believes the head of the Meteo forecasting center, Alexander Shuvalov. “Judging by the forecast materials, we will have to swing on waves of warming and cooling until the end of January,” he notes. “We should probably forget about 20-degree frosts.”
As the Meteovesti portal of the Phobos Weather Center reported, by the end of January, Atlantic weather processes will again prevail, so that it will be warm again in the center of the country.
Overall, it looks like this year's winter will not bring us any significant frosts, and the second half of the season will also be noticeably warmer than usual, meteorologists say.
“According to long-term forecasts, by the end of the season the average air temperature in Moscow will be 5 degrees warmer than normal, which puts an end to a real winter,” Yevgeny Tishkovets describes the weather forecast.
In March, spring will come earlier than usual, forecasters predict: in Moscow, there will still be frosts at night, but during the day the air will warm up to +5. In general, the first month of spring will be significantly warmer not only in the capital, but also in the northwest of the country, in Eastern Siberia, Transbaikalia, Amur Region and Primorye.
“The average monthly air temperature in March is predicted to be 4 degrees above normal, and April is expected to be 3 degrees warmer than long-term meteorological statistics, ” Tishkovets summarizes. “This indicates a high probability of an early onset of spring (that is, earlier than March 21, the climatic date for the average daily air temperature in Moscow to rise above zero) and the melting of snow cover by the beginning of April.”