The key weather and climate features in the northern hemisphere in January 2016
Air temperature
European territory of Russia was experienced with the real winter weather in the first decade of the new year. In the central and north-western regions frosts reached -25°C and below (in the Khibiny - up to -40°C). As a result, the mean decade negative temperature anomalies covered the entire territory from the western border to the Urals, reaching -10°C or lower values. In the second half of the month the weather has changed dramatically and become more like a spring (temperature anomalies for the third decade amounted to + 5°C or more). As a result, on average for January over most of European Russia have developed temperature conditions close to normal and only in the northwest it still was colder than usual for about 2-3°C.
Another cold center in the territory of Russia was located in the south of Siberia, where on average it turned out colder than normal by 2-6°C. Finally, the third is Kamchatka, where during the whole month it was colder than normal, but much less than in Siberia - by 2-4°C.
The key weather and climate features in the northern hemisphere in December 2015
Air temperature
December 2015 proved to be a very warm one in Russia. In the whole European territory, Siberia and Altai almost every day were established record values of daily maximum air temperature. In the first decade of the month the average temperature in the south of Siberia exceeded the norm by 12-16°C, not far below the anomaly have been here in the second decade and only the third - the cold air from the eastern regions of the country came over. In Central Russia in December the thermometer rose to near 10°C of heat. Only in the east, the whole month was colder than usual. Eastern regions of Yakutia, Kolyma, Chukotka and Kamchatka experienced the frost of 50°C. As a result, in general, over the last month the average temperature in the south of Siberia were higher than the norm by 8-10°C, on European territory by 4-6°C. At the same time, in the northeast of the country they fell short of standardd by about 1-2°C. In the Volga region it was the warmest December in history, and in Central Russia - the second warmest. The distribution and size of the anomalies of mean temperature for December in the territory of Russia are very similar with the December two years ago. The only difference is that in the place of the current cold weather in the northeast of the country in December 2013 there, so as in Siberia, were large positive anomalies in temperature (+ 10°C). Therefore, December 2013 is the warmest in the annals of Russia, while December 2015 only rounded out the top five warmest.