Extreme cold grips northern European Russia
Unusual, record cold temperatures gripped the northern European Russia region this month, with temperatures dropping to piercing -40 °C (-40 °F) and below. In addition to record temperatures, frosts also intensified from the Kola Peninsula to Vorkuta.
Unseasonal cold temperatures gripped the north of European Russia as the mercury dropped to -40°C (-40°F) in mid-March. Pictures of towns show abandoned buildings and homes engulfed in deep snow.
In the Murmansk region, the Krasnoshchelye settlement had a record cold of -34.5 °C (-30.1 °F).
In the Arkhangelsk region, the Mezen city registered a new daily low of -31.9 °C (-25.4 °F). In the Republic of Komi, Pechora set a record low temperature of -38.1 °C (-36.6 °F).
Also, in the Vorkuta area, temperatures plummeted to 40 °C (-40 °F) and below in some areas. Due to the piercing cold, frosts further intensified from the Kola Peninsula to the Vorkuta areas.
On Tuesday, March 9, Petrozavodsk dropped to -29.4 °C (-20.9 °F), breaking the record of -26.9 °C (-16.4 °F) set in 1945.
On Wednesday, March 10, Syktyvkar broke a record set in 1908 as temperatures dropped to -32.5 °C (-26.5 °F). Meanwhile, St. Petersburg registered -20.3 °C (-4.5 °F), smashing the record set 50 years ago.
The record holder for the coldest night on March 10 is still the temperature set in 1888 when the mercury pummeled to -25.5 °C (-13.9 °F).
According to Olga Kozak, head of the meteorological forecast department of the Center for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring of the Komi Republic, the unseasonal cold weather was due to an ultra polar invasion– the influx of Arctic air from the Kara Sea.
redlipstickresurrected:
Maria Passer/Anadolu Agency/ – Vorkuta, Komi Republic, Russia – An inside view from snow and ice covered abandoned building in Severny region in Komi Republic. The extremely cold climate in Vorkuta, where temperatures can be as low as minus 50C (12… pic.twitter.com/MUI4sjFTbR
— visualreverence (@visualreverence) March 6, 2021
#WeatherSays | An aerial view!
Vorkuta is the fourth largest city north of the Arctic Circle and the coldest city in all of Europe, with record cold temperatures reaching below minus 50 degrees Celsius in the dead of winter.
(: Maria Passer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) pic.twitter.com/mHssanFsI7
— The Weather Channel India (@weatherindia) March 6, 2021
These abandoned towns in #Russia's Arctic north have been covered in snow and ice following brutally cold temperatures. Photographer Maria Passer traveled to the coal-mining town of Vorkuta and the surrounding villages to capture how they appear frozen in time. pic.twitter.com/EPQgBS5CYh
— jvillanueva67 (@javillanueva67) March 6, 2021
Vorkuta, Komi Republic, Russia – An inside view from snow and ice covered abandoned building in Severny region in Komi Republic. The extremely cold climate in Vorkuta, where temperatures can be as low as minus 50° F. pic.twitter.com/438Gq0xlud
— B.C. (@Brain_Collision) March 6, 2021
Featured image credit: South China Morning Post/YouTube
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