A new record was set with a temperature of 38° Celsius within the Arctic Circle. This was confirmed by the United Nations WMO on 14 December 2021. The unusually high temperature for Arctic regions was recorded in the Russian city of Verkhoyansk on June 20, 2020, and was recognized now by the WMO as a new Arctic temperature record.
The temperature, which feels more like the Mediterranean than the Arctic, was measured at a meteorological observation station during an exceptional and prolonged Siberian heat wave. Average temperatures over Arctic Siberia reached up to 10°C above normal for much of the summer last year, fuelling devastating fires, causing massive sea ice loss and playing a major role in 2020 being one of the three warmest years on record.
“Fundamentally, this research highlights rising temperatures in a climatically important region of the world. By continuously monitoring and assessing temperature extremes, we can stay informed about changes in this critical region of the world, the polar Arctic,” said Professor Randall Cerveny, Rapporteur on Climate and Weather Extremes for WMO.
B. a) Air temperature sensor at a height of 3.3 meters after installation, b) 2.0 – 2.2 meters above the snow surface (at the time 22.12.1991 -69.6°C temperature observation), (c) estimated snow depth in July 1992, (d) estimated snow depth at the time of the 22 December 1991 -69,6°C temperature observation; and (e) lower temperature probe installed at ~0.9 meters above the snow surface at installation (was buried in September 1991, based on AWS data). (Photo: Dr. Julie Palais)
Record cold in Greenland
At the same time the ‘WMO Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes’. also recorded the official lowest recorded temperature for areas at or north of the Arctic Circle at -69.6 ° C (-93.3 ° F). The sub-zero record was measured on 22 December 1991 in Greenland at the Klinck-AWS automatic weather station. The station is located at an altitude of 3,216 m.a.s.l. This value is also the coldest temperature measured for the Northern Hemisphere.
Heiner Kubny, PolarJournal
