Frosts are set to sweep across northwestern Russia overnight into Wednesday, September 16, with temperatures dropping as low as minus 2 degrees Celsius in the Republic of Karelia and the Leningrad, Novgorod and Pskov regions, according to Lyudmila Parshina, leading meteorologist at Russia's Hydrometeorological Center. She gave the forecast in comments to the state news agency RIA Novosti.
Parshina said the cold snap would also reach parts of Russia's Central Federal District overnight. She forecast temperatures falling to as low as minus 1 degree Celsius in the Tver, Kostroma and Yaroslavl regions.
Why the northwest freezes first
Karelia, the Leningrad region, and the Novgorod and Pskov regions lie in Russia's northwest, near the country's borders with Finland and the Baltic states, at latitudes considerably farther north than Moscow. Karelia is known for its extensive lake systems and forests, with its capital in Petrozavodsk, while the Leningrad region surrounds the city of St. Petersburg. The Pskov region borders Estonia and Latvia, while the Novgorod region sits between St. Petersburg and Moscow along one of Russia's oldest trade routes.
Regions at these northern latitudes typically register the country's first autumn frosts, often weeks before central Russia sees subzero readings. Russia's Hydrometeorological Center, commonly known as Gidrometcentr, operates under Roshydromet, the federal agency that monitors weather and environmental conditions across the country. RIA Novosti, which first reported Parshina's comments, is one of Russia's largest state-run news agencies and a leading source for official government and scientific statements.
The Tver, Kostroma and Yaroslavl regions, meanwhile, lie within the Central Federal District, the same administrative district as Moscow, but well to its north and east.
Moscow set for a late, warm September
Moscow will not see any frost, meteorologists believe, until around the third week of September, Parshina said. She added that the capital's weather this week would remain far from freezing, with temperatures on Thursday, September 17, potentially climbing as high as plus 29 degrees Celsius.
Moscow lies several hundred kilometers south of Karelia and the Leningrad region, a distance that helps explain the sharp contrast between the frosts expected in the northwest and the summer-like warmth forecast for the capital this week.
