Home – Home – Jornals – Geography and Natural Resources 2023 number 2

An analysis of interannual variability in surface air temperature of the summer season for separate regions of Russia as well as for most of its territory between 1930 and 2020 was performed. For the analysis, average daily air temperature data from 526 stations of the Roshydromet observation network and the ECMWF-ERA and NOAA-CIRES reanalyses have been used. Based on the meteorological station’s observations and on the calculated number of days with extreme temperature values, the spatio-temporal distribution of ground air temperature for separate summer months and for the summer season as a whole were evaluated. It was established that over the past 60 years, the number of days with extremely high temperatures increased by a factor of 1.5 in most of Russia, with the largest number of such days occurring in July. Both the secular records of average monthly air temperature in the summer months as well as the absolute maximum temperature were established to be extreme. For the selected 30-year-long periods of instrumental observations, the maximum air temperature exceeded +39 °C in some regions of Russia. It is shown that abnormally hot years have been unprecedented in the history of meteorological observations in Russia in terms of both record temperature values and the duration. The temperature regime of most areas of Russia is characterized by a spatio-temporal inhomogeneity. The analysis of temporal variation of extreme air temperature values suggests that the circumpolar and high-mountain areas were characterized by a fall in temperature in the summer months, whereas the temperate climate zones and southern regions of the country undergo a rise in temperature. It was established that at the end of the 20^th to early 21^st centuries, the number of days with extremely high surface air temperature increased in the territory of Russia, which may be a precondition for the occurrence of dangerous meteorological phenomena.