From Jeff Masters' Wunderblog, July 30, 2010
At 4 p.m. local time today in Moscow, Russia, the temperature surpassed 100 °F for the first time in recorded history. The high temperature of 100.8 °F (37.8 °C) recorded at the Moscow Observatory, the official weather location for Moscow, beat Moscow's previous record of 99.5 °F (37.5 °C), set just three days ago, on July 26. Prior to 2010, Moscow's hottest temperature of all-time was 36.6 °C (98.2 °F), set in August 1920. Records in Moscow go back to 1879. Baltschug, another official downtown Moscow weather site, hit an astonishing 102.2 °F (39.0 °C) today. Finland also recorded its hottest temperature in its history today, when the mercury hit 99 °F (37.2 °C) at Joensuu. The old (undisputed) record was 95 °F (35 °C) at Jvaskyla on July 9, 1914. There is little relief in sight, as the latest forecast for Moscow predicts continued highs in the 90s for most of the coming week.
Figure 1. Russia's heat wave has contributed to a severe fire season this July. Fires on dry peat bogs east of Moscow are covering the city with smoke as this photo taken yesterday (July 28, 2010.) Tiny red dots indicate hot spots of high surface temperatures associated with fires, and multiple clusters of such dots appear east of Moscow. Dull gray smoke mixes with opaque white clouds east and northeast of the capital city. Air pollution levels in Moscow due to the smoke and smog are so high that residents have been warned to stay home rather than go in to work. Firefighters are battling 340 blazes across Russia covering 86,658 hectares (214,136 acres) amid a drought that led the government to declare weather-related emergencies in 23 crop-producing regions. Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik said on July 23 that the drought had damaged 10.1 million hectares, or 32% of all land under cultivation, according to Bloomberg. Raging fires have destroyed hundreds of houses across Russia today and forced mass evacuations in the city of Voronezh, 300 miles southeast of Moscow, according to the Associated Press. Image credit: NASA's Aqua satellite.
Link: http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1559
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