Climate

Climate of Chukotka is very inclement. Local old-timers say that one month is a year they have bad weather, two months – very bad and the rest nice – nasty weather.
In the winter air temperature in western continental parts of Chukotka often goes down as much as 44-60 degrees Celsius below zero. Strong winds blow in the eastern parts and snow storms can sometimes last for many days. Summer is very short, rainy and cold, in certain places the snow stays on the ground unmelted. Permafrost lies in the upper layers of soil and can be found anywhere in the country.

Peculiarities of the climate of Chukotka are determined by its geographical location in the outermost north-east extremity of Eurasia – a zone influenced by two oceans with a sophisticated atmospheric movement which differs very much from season to season.

In the winter Chukotka is affected by a pressure space which the cyclones of the European-Asian front, Arctic anti-cyclones and Southern cyclones are confronted with. This causes Chukotka weather to change suddenly even within short periods of time: relatively warm wet weather with heavy snowstorm suddenly comes to replace frost with moderate and strong northern winds.

During summer depressions usually prevail over comparatively warm mainland, anti-cyclones—above the Pacific ocean, cyclones of European-Asian front and cold masses of Arctic air—over the Arctic Ocean Coast. This interaction of the circulatory factors also causes the weather to change abruptly from warm into cold, sometimes with frost. Snowfall can break out at any time during summer.

Within a short period of time northern winds here change into sourthern winds, the average speed being 5-12 metres/second, and gusts of wind have the speed of about 40 m/sec (131 ft/sec). Virtually every year there are single gusts of wind with the speed of about 50-60 m/sec.

Average year air temperature in Chukotka is below zero in all parts of the region: from 4.1 C (Navarin Cape) to -14 C over the East-Siberian Sea Coast (a/k/a Raucha). However, the climate becomes more continental to the West of the most distant Eastern point, the so-called "Chukotka wedge", and although the area of the region is not significant its average temperatures vary greatly: in July from +4 С to +14 С and in January from -18 С to -42 С.

It is a well known fact that climate extremity gets greater towards North hemisphere continent from North-West to East therefore reaching its maximum in the outermost North-East Eurasian territory – in Chukotka.

Chukotka has really broken many "climatic records": it has the lowest radioactive balance for this latitude, maximum number of days without sun (Vrangel Island), the shortest day-period (North-East Coast), highest average annual wind speed and frequency of snowstorms and hurricanes in Russia (Navarin Cape).

Severe climate of Chukotka has great influence upon the way of live of the locals. In the winter time the number of days-off due to heavy snowstorms and frost reaches 10-15 and on the Arctic coast and that of the Bering Sea it may altogether exceed a month.