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Weather goes crazy in Siberia - with record high temperatures, then July snow 

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28 July 2014

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While it was hot in Kemerovo, our remarkable picture shows the giant hailstones that thudded down on the mountainous region. This came a day after an extraordinary hailstorm at the main river beach in Novosibirsk, Siberia's largest city. Picture: Sergey Repin

Thermometers have been yo-yoing in July as Siberia copes with weather extremes that have seen record-breaking summer temperatures in major cities. Despite this, freak hailstones larger than hen eggs hit Kemerovo while a beach and park in Novosibirsk was left with an icy sheen of white, like in winter. 

In Chelyabinsk region on the western fringe of Siberia, snow fell giving a ground cover of up to an unprecedented ten centimetres in the southern Urals.

In Magadan, in the extreme east, three months of rain fell in a day and a half, with locals water skiing along highways. 

Last month, Yakutsk - capital of Siberia's coldest republic, Sakha, also known as Yakutia, recorded its highest-ever 21 June temperature of 35C.

Another northern regional capital Khanty-Mansiysk has also enjoyed unusually balmy weather this summer. 

On 12 July, the city of Tomsk hit 35.9C, a maximum, and on the same day records were broken in Novokuznetsk, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo and Barnaul, according to weather source www.meteo-tv.ru

Girl with the hat from Yakutsk


Happy girl in bikini from Yakutsk


Couple on the beach in Kemerovo


Girl on the beach in Kemerovo


Girl on the yacht in Altai


This summer heat breaks records in Yakutsk, Novokuznetsk, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo and Barnaul. Pictures: Elena Mironova, Vasilisa Arkhipova, Olesya Brdyugina, Viktoria Shilova, Ekaterina Savchenko

Not everyone has been frazzled, however. In Tyumen, there was a bracing 12C, low for July. 

And while it was hot in Kemerovo, our remarkable picture shows the giant hailstones that thudded down on the mountainous region. This came a day after an extraordinary hailstorm at the main river beach in Novosibirsk, Siberia's largest city. Our pictures of this shocking cloudburst have already sped around the world.

Further west, was the extraordinary spectacle of snow in mid-July, the hottest month of the year. Resident of Zlatoust Vladimir Semyannikov said: 'It was not even the snow and rain. It was natural white flakes of snow as in the winter. It, of course, quickly melted, but the view was amazing.'

Snow was also spotted in the town of Satki, Chelyabinsk region.

Hail in Kemerovo region


Novosibirsk hail storm people in water


Novosibirsk hail storm woman coming out the water


Novosibirsk hail storm people running out of water


Hail storm in Novosibirsk people hiding

Remarkable picture shows the giant hailstones that thudded down on the Kemerovo region. This came a day after an extraordinary hailstorm at the main river beach in Novosibirsk, Siberia's largest city. Pictures: Sergey Repin, Ruslan Sokolov

According to the local media, in some areas there was a temporary snow cover of between 5 and 10 centimetres. It was claimed such snow had never previously fallen in the Southern Urals.

Chief forecaster of the Urals Department for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring Galina Sheporenko said: 'Snow fell last time in July in the Urals 100 years ago. 

'The reason for the current weather anomaly is a cold Arctic cyclone. It is small in scale but very insidious: deepening and gaining strength along the way. Because of it, the temperature dropped significantly in the region.... and snow even fell in the mountainous regions.'  

Snow falls in Chelyabinsk region


Snow on trees in Chelyabinsk region


Snow on the motorway in Chelyabinsk region


Blizzard in Chelyabinsk region

Chief forecaster of the Urals Department for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring Galina Sheporenko said: 'Snow fell last time in July in the Urals 100 years ago. Pictures: Social media

Separately, Siberia has experienced its worst flooding in living memory this summer, with the Altai Republic among the regions badly hit. 

An emergency was declared in Magadan following spectacular flooding with three times the monthly rainfall norm deluging on towns and villages within 36 hours. The floods were reported to be the worst in recorded history. 

Locals made the best of it - water-skiing on roads that turned into rivers. 

The alarm was so great that some people required psychological help as their homes were flooded, with 500 suffering a major impact from the natural disaster. Vladislav Sokolov, of state TV and radio company Magadan, Tweeted:  'Six victims of the rainfall are getting psychological support. People are shocked - their houses got washed away.'

Both Siberia and the Far East have been hit by forest fires.

Flooded Magadan


Flooded road Magadan


Road closed in flooded Magadan


Aircrafts museum in water Magadan


Surfing in flooded Magadan

An emergency was declared in Magadan following spectacular flooding with three times the monthly rainfall norm deluging on towns and villages within 36 hours. Locals made the best of it - water-skiing on roads that turned into rivers. Pictures: Vladislav Sokolov, Alexander Krylov, MagadanMedia

On 25 July, 85 forest fires covering 110,000 hectares were raging in the Siberian Federal District. Firefighters had extinguished another 26 fires covering 32,500 hectares in the previous 24 hours, but another 34 were burning the Russian Far East.

But on Monday it was reported that the areas hot by wildfires in the Siberian Federal District more than doubled to 52,300 hectares. Some 158 wildfires were registered, with Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk regions facing the most problems. Some 25 fires also broke out in the Far East of Russia.

There have been 2,049 fires on more than a million hectares in the Far Eastern Federal District this season. The district recorded 914 fires on more than 438,000 hectares a year ago.

Comments (17)

This is an open letter to the people of the region, you are living on the front lines of the changes to our weather that will affect billions of people living all around the planet.
The winds carry the water away from the Arctic by way of the clouds, sometimes as far away as Brazil, Egypt, Europe, and Africa. What is happening has never been seen before, and as with anything new, the population of the world does not know what to expect.
As these imbalances in the weather become more pronounced and intense, there is at least one person praying for your safety and well being.

Bernard, Midwestern United States
05/08/2014 08:27
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Really nice images from Siberia. I remember some news stories from many years ago about the permafrost thawing there and the challenges posed because of it. However, in every difficult situation also lies an opportunity. I understand that agriculture would be tough in Siberia, but since the temperatures seem to be hotting up there exists an opportunity for promoting farming and allied sectors + industries there. I guess you now have a new rail link and the Chinese, Japanese and the Koreans are investing in Siberia. Mr. Putin should also give some thought to settling more people in this region in the Agrarian Sector. The Chinese have the most mouths in the World and exporting the produce won't be an issue. Plus, people living in Villages tend to be healthier and have more Babies. The Eurasian Union does need more Babies.

It would be great to have some articles on the rise in temperature, specially during the past few decades and the current scenario of agriculture, dairy, etc. Industry in the Russian Far East. India also has well over 1 Billion people and you can also export your produce here. Mr. Putin should discuss co-operation in this sector with Mr. Modi when he visits India later this year.
Dinesh, India
05/08/2014 00:18
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1
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