Climate Data

Climate data can be viewed by clicking on map icons. Average temperatures for Verkhoyansk in the table below are from the weather station in Batagay.

To provide some context for these temperatures: at 5 F high-carbon steel breaks; at -13 F unalloyed steels break; at -20 F and 5 mph winds exposed human skin freezes within 1 minute; at -35 F standard steel structures rupture; -90 F was the coldest temperature ever recorded outside of Antarctica (it was in Siberia). From Hill, F. and C. Gaddy. 2003. The Siberian Curse. Brookings Institution. Pages 215-216.

These tables from the BBC compare climatic data from different parts of Siberia. There is a map at the bottom of the page that shows the location of these cities.

- 68 C is equivalent to - 90 F and + 37 C is equivalent to + 99 F

This means that Verkhoyansk has a range of 189 degrees F from the coldest winter recorded temperatures to the warmest summer recorded temperatures

The Siberian town of Verkhoyansk has the reputation of being one of the coldest spots on earth, and of having the largest difference between summer and winter temperatures.

The table for Vladivostok illustrates the rather different climate and weather experienced in a narrow strip along the coast of the Pacific. Winters are still cold and harbours freeze. This is because the dominant winter wind is from the west or northwest and brings very cold Siberian air to the coast. In summer there is a reversal of wind direction as the east Asian summer monsoon brings warm, moist winds off the Pacific so that coastal regions are comparatively wet at this time.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/city_guides/results.shtml?tt=TT004640

The tables for Ekaterinburg, Tomsk, and Irkutsk (all in approximately the same latitude in southern Siberia) show the similarity of temperatures from west to east.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/city_guides/results.shtml?tt=TT004610

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/city_guides/results.shtml?tt=TT004620 http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/city_guides/results.shtml?tt=TT004600

Here are the data for Moscow and St. Petersburg, which are in the European part of Russia, for comparison. Notice that the winter temperatures are on average more than 10 degrees C warmer than Tomsk, Irkutsk and Ekaterinburg.