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+38°C temperature measured in Verkhoyansk recognised as a record high for the Arctic

According to the World Meteorological Organisation, a meteorological observing station measured the record temperature on 20 June 2020, 'during an exceptional and prolonged Siberian heatwave'

14 December 2021

The temperature of +38°C measured in Verkhoyansk on 20 June 2020 has been officially recognised as a new record high for the Arctic; an appropriate entry has been added to the WMO Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes. This is according to a Tuesday report by the Geneva-based World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), a specialised agency of the United Nations.

'A temperature of +38°C (+100.4°F) in the Russian town of Verkhoyansk on 20 June 2020 has been recognised as a new Arctic temperature record by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO),' says the report quoted by TASS.

The organisation further elaborated that its committee of experts had determined that the 'observations taken at Verkhoyansk were consistent with surrounding stations and that the equipment, siting and logistics were certified by the Yakutia Department of Roshydromet.' The report stresses that the 'weather conditions — with a very strong upper-level ridge sitting over the region — were also consistent with the record temperature.'

The WMO noted that the temperature, more befitting the Mediterranean than for the Arctic, was measured at a meteorological observing station 'during an exceptional and prolonged Siberian heatwave.' For most of the last summer, average temperatures in the Arctic zone of Siberia exceeded the norm by ten degrees, making 2020 one of the three warmest years on record. According to the organisation, the Arctic is one of the world's fastest-warming regions. It is heating at a rate that is more than twice the global average.

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