Record Heat in Siberia

Record Heat for the World’s Most Northerly City?

Norilsk is a large city of some 175,000 located in the Arctic region of central Russia near 70° N latitude. It is the largest, most northerly city in the world. Photo by Mikhail Shlemov.

Wundergrund,

22 July, 2013

Temperatures at Norilsk, Russia peaked at 32.0°C (89.6°F) on Sunday July 21st, one of the warmest readings ever observed at this large city in the Russian Arctic at 69° 20'N latitude, almost as far north as Barrow, Alaska, and one of the warmest temperatures ever measured at such a northerly latitude (Umiat, Alaska at 69° 22'N reached 92°F (33.3°C) on July 14, 1993 according to the WRCC database). However, sites just a bit south of Norilsk (Snezhnogorsk at 68° 6'N) reached 34°C (93.2°F).

Norilsk, with a population of 175,000, is located at 69° 20’N and 88° 6’E and is the most northerly city in the world with a population over 100,000.

It has long been a mining center (and gulag during the Stalin years) located in the far northeast of Russia’s Krasnoyarsk Krai Region. 

For the past week temperatures have been running as much as 10-15°C above normal throughout the central arctic region of Russia. The 32.0°C (89.6°F) measured at Norilsk on July 21st would appear to have broken the city’s former all-time record of 31.0°C (87.8°F) (date unknown) according to the weather table below from the Norilsk Wikapedia page. UPDATE: It appears that Norilesk has been warmer before: 32.2°C on two previous occasions.

Weather data for the past month at Norilsk as of July 21st (the date on the table is observation date for previous 24 hours). Note the minimum temperature of 19.7°C (67.5°F) on July 20th! The 32.0°C (89.6°F) on July 21st must be close to the warmest temperature ever measured at such a northerly location on earth. OGIMET data.

The heat is also being felt in the city of Nadym in the neighboring region of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region

Nadym is located at 65° 36’ N and 72° 42’ E, about the same latitude as Fairbanks, Alaska. Map from Wikapedia.

The temperature at Nadym reached 33.7°C (92.7°F) on July 18th. For five consecutive days so far the temperature has reached 30°C (86°F) or higher. This past June Nadym experienced 30°C on June 13th followed 24 hours later with a 10 cm snowfall (on June 14th).

Weather data for the past month at Nadym as of July 22nd. I am not sure if the 33.7°C (92.7°F) on July 19th is an all-time record or not. OGIMET data.

Hottest temperatures ever measured so far north?

According to OGIMET the temperature reached 34.0°C (93.2°F) at Snezhnogorsk and Igarka on July 21st , both sites just a bit south of Norilsk. Snezhnogorsk is located at 68° 6'N and 87° 46'E and Igarka at 67° 28'N, 86° 34'E. These sites are just a bit south of the latitude of Umiat, Alaska (at 69° 22' N) where a maximum of 92°F (33.3°C) has been recorded in the past. There is a temperature reading of 36.7°C (98.1°F) in July 1979 reported from Hatanga, Russia which rests at 71° 58'N (about 400 miles northeast of Norilsk). This is a very anomalous reading and may have been the result of a foen-like wind event (down sloping wind heated by compression, like Santa Ana winds in the U.S.). IF the figure is accurate, then this would be, by far, the warmest temperature ever measured on earth at such a northerly latitude.

This Russian Arctic heat wave is still on going and I’ll post updates if necessary.