Overview
- Russia’s weather service reports temperatures running 6–19°C below normal in more than ten regions, with the deepest anomalies focused in northern territories.
- Extreme lows persist in the Arctic and Far North, where Yakutia can drop to −49 to −50°C and the Nenets and Komi areas hold near −30°C.
- Siberia faces a surge of hazardous weather from December 18–20, including lows to −36°C, blizzards, and storm-force winds up to 37 m/s on Lake Baikal and up to 25 m/s in several regions.
- The Northwest sees sharp contrasts, with freezing conditions in Murmansk and Komi, plus heavy snow, icing and wet snow in Arkhangelsk, while Pskov and Novgorod hold near 0 to +5°C with thaw and rain.
- Southern areas split between warmth on the Black Sea coast and Crimea up to +11 to +13°C and lingering freezes in Rostov, Volgograd and Astrakhan, where wind damage to power lines has forced use of backup supplies.