Winter in Russia expected to be abnormally warm and humid due to El Niño

The coming winter in most of Russia is expected to be abnormally warm and humid due to the influence of the El Niño climate phenomenon.

The maximum abnormal heat will occur in Central Russia and the southern regions in February, with temperatures exceeding 3–4 degrees.

Winter will be accompanied by increased precipitation and possible snow storms, which could lead to disruptions in air and ground transport.

MOSCOW, September 12 - RIA Novosti. The coming winter in most of Russia is expected to be abnormally warm and humid due to the influence of the El Niño climate phenomenon, leading specialist at the Phobos weather center Evgeniy Tishkovets said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

“In my opinion, this year in winter in Russia, with the exception of the Arctic zone, northern Siberia, Chukotka, the Bering Sea, the Chukchi Sea, it will be very cold here, most of the territory of our country will be under abnormal heat. Moreover, the excess above the norm will reach 3-4 degrees, this is a fairly significant value,” Tishkovets said.

According to him, the maximum abnormal heat will occur in Central Russia and the southern regions in February.

“All this will be accompanied by increased precipitation. I think that in December it will be more or less close. And then in January there will be 30-40% more precipitation than expected,” the forecaster noted.

The meteorologist emphasized that this is due to the record-breaking El Niño, a climate phenomenon characterized by warming waters in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.

“This will be the main driver of the upcoming changes in the winter process, and will echo in both spring and summer. Therefore, it is El Niño that will be to blame for this mild and wet scenario of the coming winter, with all the ensuing consequences,” Tishkovets emphasized.

At the same time, the agency’s interlocutor clarified that not the entire winter will be warm, slushy, and icy. There can be a lot of snow, and then it will periodically settle due to thaw - and these are frontal fogs of an adjective nature with deterioration of visibility, leading, among other things, to disruptions in air traffic and ground transport communications.