Siberian town records possible hottest-ever temperature in Arctic Circle
The town of Verkhoyansk in Siberia hit 37.8 °C (100 °F) for the first time on Saturday, June 20, 2020– if verified, it will be the hottest-ever temperature recorded above the Arctic Circle.
The hot temperature recorded in Verkhoyansk on Saturday may also smash the town's all-time record of 37.3 °C (99.1 °F) set on July 25, 1988.
It is located about 418 km (260 miles) south of the Arctic coast and around 10 km (6 miles) north of the Arctic Circle.
According to Meteo France meteorologist Etienne Kapikian, the temperature may also become the hottest on record north of the Arctic Circle if the reading is found to be correct.
The average high in June in the area is only around 20 °C (68 °F).
The year to date temperature anomalies have been very extreme. pic.twitter.com/c6BDdMG7c7
— Robert Rohde (@RARohde) June 12, 2020
Likely the hottest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic happened today-100.4 F- What's happening in Siberia this year is nothing short of remarkable. The kind of weather we expect by 2100, 80 years early.
For perspective Miami has only reached 100 degrees once on record. https://t.co/WDPRmLRD4d— Jeff Berardelli (@WeatherProf) June 20, 2020
Verkhoyansk once dropped to -67.8 °C (-90 °F) on February 5 and 7 in 1982. This is 105.8 °C (190.4 °F) colder than the all-time record high.
The recent heatwave was due to an expansive blocking high pressure aloft over Siberia since June 12. This blocking high has not allowed cooler air to push south from the Arctic coast of Russia.
By far, Russia has been the epicenter of the Earth's most expansive and extreme warm anomalies in 2020.
Featured image credit: Berkeley Earth
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Similar to what happened at the beginning of the Little ice Age. Hmmm…