The Year 2024 was the second warmest in the meteorological chronicle since 1891 wherein 2020 was the only year warmer, and was the only year when the annual average air temperature was positive, compared to -0.1° in 2024. This year turned out to be the hottest in the Central, Southern and North-Caucasian Federal Districts as well as in Crimea, its annual average temperature being the second highest for the ETR and the ATR separately, as well as for the North-Western and Siberian Federal Districts.

The annual average air temperature all over Russia save for Wrangel Island in the Chukchi Sea was above-normal, -- one degree above in a significant part of the country, and two or more degrees above in the south-west of the Central region, in certain other south-western territories, in Siberia and partly in the Arctic.

In Russia, the monthly-averaged temperatures recorded in summer as well as in November and December were extremely high. In December, all decade averages were noticeably higher than normal, especially in the Urals, in Siberia and in the south of the Far East where anomalies reached +10…16° or more.

During the month, new temperature maxima were recorded at times in Yakutia, Siberia and Kolyma, in the Russian North, on the islands in the Arctic Ocean and in the Kaliningrad Region. Right amid the winter, the air temperature in the Arctic and the Magadan Region was positive now and then.

As a result, the average temperature in December was markedly higher than normal throughout the Russian Federation; in the Urals, in Siberia as well as in the central and northern regions of the Far East, it was 4-10 or more degrees higher. The weather in Primorye, in neighbouring regions of the Khabarovsk Territory, and on Franz Josef Land was slightly colder than normal.

In Russia as well as in the ATR and the Urals separately, December 2024 was proclaimed the warmest in the history of meteorological observations, whereas in Siberia and in the north of the Far East, it was among the top five warmest.

In East Asia, this December was warmer than usual. The monthly-averaged temperature anomalies in the north-east of China and in the east of Mongolia exceeded +2°, and the monthly-averaged temperature in the rest of the region was close to normal: against the background of positive anomalies over its most area, and against the background of negative ones in western China.

The temperature in the countries of South-East Asia was approximately normal, with apparently a single exception of Myanmar: there, it was noticeably higher than that.

The weather in India was slightly colder than usual in the north of the country only, as in neighbouring Pakistan, whereas the average air temperature in most of the Hindustan Peninsula was 1-2° above normal, so that this December (alongside December 2017) in India became the second warmest in the history of meteorological observations, December 2022 remaining the leader.

In the Middle East and in Central Asia, the weather was markedly colder than usual, with the monthly-averaged anomalies of air temperatures down to -2° and the thermometer readings sometimes dropping to -10° in Iran, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The temperatures in the Near East were normal.

The December temperature averages in North Africa were close to normal.

In most of Europe, this December was warmer than usual. High anomalies (+1…2° or above) of monthly-averaged temperatures were recorded in the east and the north of the continent (in the Scandinavian, Baltic, Central European and Balkan countries and in the UK), and in the latter country, this December was the fifth warmest in history. The temperatures in the rest of the continent were normal except for some places in Italy, France and Spain where the December monthly averages were subnormal.

The monthly-averaged air temperature in Canada, the USA and the north of Mexico was very high, with anomalies in excess of +2° almost everywhere and in excess of +4° in some places in Canada. The weather in the south-west of the US was noticeably warmer than usual. This December was the warmest in history in Arizona, the second warmest in California, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma, and the third warmest in Utah and Colorado; it was among the top five warmest in the history of meteorological observations in the US and Canada. In the Caribbean, it became the leader, beating December of the previous year by 0.1°

The monthly-averaged anomaly of air temperature in the Arctic exceeded +2°.

The temperature in December 2024 monthly-averaged over the Northern Hemisphere reproduced the high that was set last year (to an accuracy of 0.1°C), while the year as a whole became the warmest in the history of meteorological observations in the Hemisphere as well as in Canada, the US, China, India, Europe and North Africa separately. The annual average of air temperature was 1-2 or more degrees higher than normal almost everywhere in the Hemisphere, and 1-3 or more, in North America. This year, the weather was slightly colder than normal solely in certain water bodies of the Pacific Ocean, in Alaska and Iceland, and on the eastern coast of Greenland.

In Moscow, the average air temperature in 2024 was +8.0° with an anomaly of +1.8°, repeating the high that was established in 2020. December in the capital was also very warm, with the average temperature of -2.1° and an anomaly of +2.3°.

 

 

In December, the neutral phase of the Southern Oscillation was still active in the equatorial Pacific. The monthly-averaged SST of the Ocean in the Northern Hemisphere was rated the second highest in the history of observations, yielding to the record-breaking value recorded in December 2023 when El Niño, the warm phase of the Southern Oscillation, was known to assist. This December, the highest SST anomalies were up to or higher than +2° at tropical and temperate latitudes, and greater than +3° in the Sea of Japan.

The water on the surface of the Atlantic Ocean in the Northern Hemisphere was still extremely warm, resulting in a new maximum of the monthly-averaged SST. Everywhere except for small water bodies off the coasts of Iceland and Greenland as well as of the US and Canada, the anomalies were positive, often higher than +1-2°. The water in the marginal seas of Europe was also very warm; in the north, the average SST exceeded +2° in some areas of the Barents Sea.

Regarding the whole year 2024, the average SST of the oceans in the Northern Hemisphere reached a new maximum value. The SST was above-normal globally with the exception of small water areas off the eastern coast of Greenland and Alaska, and in the Sea of Okhotsk. The SST at temperate latitudes of the Pacific Ocean exceeded its normal value by 3° for the first time. Anomalies higher than 1.5° were observed over a large area of the oceans.

This December, precipitation was normal in most the ETR, and subnormal in the Black Earth region and south of it – in the Rostov Region, Crimea and a number of republics of the North Caucasus. The normal amount were recorded in the Urals and reached in Siberia in the majority of constituent entities of the Federation. Still, the monthly precipitation totals were above-normal in some areas (e.g., in Taimyr and Tyva), and subnormal in the others (in the Novosibirsk and Irkutsk Regions, and in the Republic of Khakassia). Precipitation was close to or less than normal in the Far Eastern Federal District, and subnormal in Buryatia, Trans-Baikal, Primorye, the southern regions of the Khabarovsk Territory, and Chukotka.

At times, precipitation was very heavy: for instance, rain with snow that hit the Krasnodar Territory in the middle of the month summed up to more than 30 mm per day. In three days from December 16 to 18, 156 mm fell in Sochi to exceed the normal monthly amount. Snowfalls and blizzards in Kamchatka and Chukotka raised the snow cover height by 10-15 cm daily at the end of the month.

In terms of the annual totals, precipitation in most of Russia was normal, if only deficient in some areas: primarily, in the Black Earth region, the Southern Federal District, Crimea and other nearby territories: there, the precipitation figures from Match to October were significantly lower than normal.

The countries of East Asia faced a shortage of precipitation: its sufficient amounts were only recorded in Mongolia as well as in the central and northern regions of Japan. The normal values in China were reached solely in the north-west and in some places along the border with Mongolia, while the rest of the country succumbed to dryness. Many weather stations in the east of China reported a complete absence of precipitation in December.

A similar picture was observed in most of South-East Asia where normal precipitation amounts were reached in the south of Vietnam and in Philippines only.

In India, rain fell in the south of the country only, causing floods that inundated a number of settlements.

The weather in the Near and Middle East was dry. Heavy rain producing up to 50 mm of daily rainwater fell in Turkey and Lebanon.

In Central Asia, dry weather was observed. Heavy snowfall in the middle of the month hit Almaty with the daily water equivalent up to 14 mm.

Precipitation in North Africa was normal along the Mediterranean coast of Egypt and Libya only, and scarce elsewhere. Snowfalls took place in the mountains of Morocco at the end of the month, bringing 15-30 cm of freshly fallen snow each day.

In Europe, precipitation was significantly above normal in the Balkans where a cyclone active in the third decade brought heavy rains and snowfalls in the mountains and caused harm in Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia. In a couple of days, 1.5 times the normal monthly precipitation amount fell in Belgrade, adding 15-18 cm of snow cover per day in some places. Heavy downpours that occurred in Greece at the beginning of the month led to floods and large-scale destruction. As in the previous months, rain fell in Spanish Catalonia, but this December can be, at large, considered dry both in Spain and in neighbouring Portugal. Precipitation was generally normal in Central Europe, and subnormal in the west of the continent (in France and in the UK).

The December precipitation totals in the west of Canada and the north-west of the US were notably above-normal. The figures along the Atlantic coasts of these countries were normal or greater than that. Precipitation in the central regions of Canada and in the south of the USA was deficient, as well as all over Mexico save for the coast of the Gulf.

In terms of 2024 totals, precipitation in most countries of the Northern Hemisphere was basically normal. The precipitation amounts were significantly above normal in India, in individual regions of China and Mongolia, as well as along the Mediterranean coast of Africa and in western Europe. Normal annual figures were recorded in most of the North American continent, while sub-normal, in the south of Russia, as mentioned above, in the east of Ukraine, in the Near and Middle East, in central Canada, in the south of the US and in the north of Mexico.

In Moscow, 59 mm of precipitation fell in December, equal to the normal amount. The annual total was 759 mm, which was also normal.

 

Hydrometcentre of Russia