Enormous in size and compact in configuration, Russia experiences a largely continental climate with marked variations between its many regions. While the east and south parts of the country have the imposing figures of their enormous mountain ranges acting as shields against the dominating influences of the Indian and Pacific oceans, European Russia and northern Siberia lack this type of topographic features, therefore are largely unprotected from the impact of the Arctic and North Atlantic oceans
Large parts of Russia remain hidden under snow for up to six month per year, and in some areas the conditions are so extreme snow is permanently frozen to depths as far as several hundred meters! Nearly all of European Russia experiences average yearly temperatures bellow freezing point while the average for most of Siberia is freezing or below.
Russia weather at most parts of the country is characterised by its distinct lack of prominent spring and autumn seasons, the very short time between winter and autumn acting as some sort of interval of moderation. Subsequently, the severe conditions so typical of Russia weather force necessary adjustments to the way Russians go about their everyday living and whole transportation routes, including entire railroad lines, need to be redirected in winter navigate frozen waterways and lakes.
However as a result of Russia’s enormous landmass size, it’s easy to understand that some of its areas follow different weather patterns to those applicable for the bulk of the country. In the Kaliningrad Oblast on the Baltic Sea the prevailing moderate maritime climate is very similar to that usually associated with the American Northwest, while the influence of the Pacific Ocean on the Russian Far East is so pronounced, the area experiences a monsoonal climate, characterised by its sharply varying temperatures. Russia’s most popular summer resort can be found on a narrow, subtropical band of territory on the Black Sea.
Winter’s prevailing and rather intense high-pressure system causes winds to blow from the south and the southwest of the country with the notable exception of but the Pacific region of the Russian landmass. During the summer season most of the landmass is influenced by winds from the north and the northwest that are caused by a low-pressure system. Winter time temperature differences are reduced between north and south thanks to the existence of this particular meteorological combination.
During January temperatures in St Petersburg usually hover around are -8°C, dropping to -27°C in the West Siberian Plain, Meanwhile and despite the fact that Yakutsk in east-central Siberia lies at approximately the same latitude as St. Petersburg, temperatures take yet another dive reaching lows of -43°C. Winter conditions on the Mongolian border are warmer but only slightly so. Latitude has a more pronounced impact on summer temperatures, although the Arctic islands average 4°C, and the southernmost regions average 20°C. The lowest temperature ever recoded was -94°C and it occurred at Verkhoyansk in north-central Siberia.
Despite the severe weather conditions experienced across Russia, the country only receives low to moderate amounts of precipitation. Russia’s northwest areas receive the highest precipitation, with levels dropping significantly as we move southeast across European Russia, whose wettest areas are the small, lush subtropical region adjacent to the Caucasus and along the Pacific coast. The areas along the Baltic coast receive on average 600 millimeters of precipitation per year and Moscow around 525 millimeters. An average of only twenty millimeters falls along the Russian-Kazak border, and as little as fifteen millimeters may fall along Siberia's Arctic coastline.
