Weather locations in Russia

Russia spans eleven time zones and about 160 degrees of longitude, from the Baltic and black seas in the west to the Bering Strait in the east, so its climate is not one climate but a set of them. The dominant feature is the continental interior: an enormous landmass with no ocean to hold heat, so winters are long, cold and severe while summers are short and warm.

Main climate types

The European part is continental to humid continental, with the region around Moscow cool and damp. Western Russia has the mildest winters, helped by Atlantic air. Siberia is sharply continental, with permafrost below most of it. The far east grades into a subarctic type, the Black Sea coast around Sochi is subtropical, and Kamchatka and the Kuril islands are oceanic and cool. The Urals run north to south through the middle.

Temperatures

Moscow has January means around -8 degrees Celsius and July about 19. St Petersburg on the Baltic is milder in January, near -6, but cooler in summer, with July around 18. In central Siberia, Yakutsk averages about -35 in January, one of the coldest major settlements in the world. The Black Sea resorts average about 6 in January and 24 in July.

Rainfall

Rainfall is moderate by global standards, mostly 500 to 800 millimetres in the European part and often under 400 in the interior of Siberia, falling mainly in the warm months. The wettest regions are the far east, where Vladivostok takes about 800 millimetres, and the Pacific coasts and Kamchatka, which receive more than 1,000, with heavy snow in winter.

When to go

Summer is the main season for most of the country, from June to August, though it is short in the north. The Black Sea resorts are best from May to September. Winter sports around Moscow and the Caucasus run from December to March, and Kamchatka has serious volcanic and geothermal terrain.