The Russians were promised an abnormally warm winter

In the coming winter, the world, including Russia, is expected to experience a significant increase in temperature due to El Niño, a climate phenomenon that causes the equatorial part of the Pacific Ocean to become warmer than usual by up to about 3°C, said Roman, scientific director of the Russian Hydrometeorological Center. Vilfand.

Speaking at a press conference at TASS, the meteorologist explained that this phenomenon affects the weather and can cause natural disasters in certain regions, including drought, floods or crop failures.

“Starting from May of this year, temperatures have been recorded that are 0.5–0.8 degrees above the norm on the surface of the ocean. This is already the beginning of El Niño, which will continue, and it is estimated that the entire next winter will be influenced by El Niño,” Vilfand said. “This means that there will be a strong flow from the oceans, combined with an anthropogenic factor, additional heat will lead to the fact that during the second half of this year the temperature will increase very significantly.”

The meteorologist added that now there is an additional “exceptional situation for the ocean” – in most waters of the North Atlantic, the temperature is 2 degrees above normal. “In temperate latitudes, the anomaly even reached plus 3. In the Arctic off the coast of Russia in the Barents and Kara Seas there was an anomaly, the surface temperature of these seas was plus 5-6 degrees. The average monthly temperature on the surface of the ocean in the Northern Hemisphere as a whole has reached a record high.

Vilfand added that the natural phenomenon of El Niño could also be one of the causes of floods in Primorsky Krai. Recall that in Vladivostok alone, more than a monthly rainfall fell during the day this week, and about 200 houses were flooded in the village of Barabash. Heavy rains have covered Primorye since the beginning of the month, and on August 25, a federal emergency regime was introduced in the region.