Climate graph taiga: Weather and Climate — Boreal Forest and Taiga

Simulated historical climate & weather data for Taiga Ranges

EMS — Following the Science

At the European Meteorological Society Conference in Bonn, scientists discussed making the latest discoveries for atmospheric measurements, modelling, and climate available to end-user communities. meteoblue was the most active company, contributing three posters and three presentations.

The meteoblue climate diagrams are based on 30 years of hourly weather model simulations and available for every place on Earth. They give good indications of typical climate patterns and expected conditions (temperature, precipitation, sunshine and wind). The simulated weather data have a spatial resolution of approximately 30 km and may not reproduce all local weather effects, such as thunderstorms, local winds, or tornadoes, and local differences as they occur in urban, mountainous, or coastal areas.

You can explore the climate for any location like the Amazon rainforest, West-Africa savannas, Sahara desert, Siberian Tundra or the Himalaya.

30 years of hourly historical weather data for Taiga Ranges can be purchased with history+. Download variables like temperature, wind, clouds and precipitation as CSV for any place on Earth. The last 2 weeks of past weather data for Taiga Ranges are available for free evaluation here.

Average temperatures and precipitation

The «mean daily maximum» (solid red line) shows the maximum temperature of an average day for every month for Taiga Ranges. Likewise, «mean daily minimum» (solid blue line) shows the average minimum temperature. Hot days and cold nights (dashed red and blue lines) show the average of the hottest day and coldest night of each month of the last 30 years. For vacation planning, you can expect the mean temperatures, and be prepared for hotter and colder days. Wind speeds are not displayed per default, but can be enabled at the bottom of the graph.

The precipitation chart is useful to plan for seasonal effects such as monsoon climate in India or wet season in Africa. Monthly precipitations above 150mm are mostly wet, below 30mm mostly dry. Note: Simulated precipitation amounts in tropical regions and complex terrain tend to be lower than local measurements.

Cloudy, sunny, and precipitation days

Note: In tropical climates like in Malaysia or Indonesia the number of precipitation days may be overestimated by a factor up to 2.

Maximum temperatures

The maximum temperature diagram for Taiga Ranges displays how many days per month reach certain temperatures. Dubai, one of the hottest cities on earth, has almost none days below 40°C in July. You can also see the cold winters in Moscow with a few days that do not even reach -10°C as daily maximum.

Precipitation amounts

The precipitation diagram for Taiga Ranges shows on how many days per month, certain precipitation amounts are reached. In tropical and monsoon climates, the amounts may be underestimated.

Wind speed

The diagram for Taiga Ranges shows the days per month, during which the wind reaches a certain speed. An interesting example is the Tibetan Plateau, where the monsoon creates steady strong winds from December to April, and calm winds from June to October.

Wind speed units can be changed in the preferences (top right).

Wind rose

The wind rose for Taiga Ranges shows how many hours per year the wind blows from the indicated direction. Example SW: Wind is blowing from South-West (SW) to North-East (NE). Cape Horn, the southernmost land point of South America, has a characteristic strong west-wind, which makes crossings from East to West very difficult especially for sailing boats.

General information

Since 2007, meteoblue has been archiving weather model data. In 2014 we started to calculate weather models with historical data from 1985 onwards and generated a continuous 30-year global history with hourly weather data. The climate diagrams are the first simulated climate data-set made public on the net. Our weather history covers any place on earth at any given time regardless of availability of weather stations.

The data is derived from our global NEMS weather model at approximately 30km resolution and cannot reproduce detail local weather effects, such as heat islands, cold air flows, thunderstorms or tornadoes. For locations and events which require very high precision (such as energy generation, insurance, town planning, etc.), we offer high resolution simulations with hourly data through point+, history+ and our API.

License

This data can be used under the Creative Commons license «Attribution + Non-commercial (BY-NC)». Any commercial use is illegal.

Blue Planet Biomes — Taiga Climate

Taiga is in Köppen’s
Dfc climate category. The D is a snow climate, while
the f means there is enough precipitation in all
months. The c means that fewer than 4 months have an
average temperature over 50° F (10° C).

The taiga climate is for
the most part dominated by cold arctic air. Exceptionally
cold winds bring bitterly cold air from the Arctic Circle:
the temperatures fall even more on clear nights when there
is no cloud cover. Because of earth’s tilt, the taiga is
turned away from the sun in the winter. Less of the sun’s
radiation reaches the ground to warm it up.

Winter, with it’s freezing
cold temperatures, lasts for six to seven months. Summer is
a rainy, hot and short season in the taiga. Fall is the
shortest season for taiga. Spring brings flowers, the frozen
ponds melt, and the animals come out from hibernation.

The lowest and highest
temperatures that occur for taiga are the
following:

Winter’s LOWEST
temperature in taiga is -65°F.
Winter’s HIGHEST temperature is 30° F.
Summer’s LOWEST temperature is 30° F.
Summer’s HIGHEST temperature is 70° F.

The temperature range, as
you can see, is -65° F to 70°F (-54 to 21°
C). For half of the year, the average temperature is below
freezing. In the winter the average air temperature is
warmer than it is for tundra, which lies north of the
taiga.

The taiga climate has an
average annual rainfall of 12 — 33 inches (30 — 84 cm). Most
of it falls in the summer as rain.

The corresponding biome
would be the Taiga biome. The global range for taiga goes
all around the world from Alaska, to Canada, Scandinavia,
Russia and China. Taiga climate is only found in the
northern hemisphere, because there isn’t enough land mass in
the southern hemisphere to create a taiga climate
there.

2000

 

Bibliography:

«Taiga biome»
http://www.ask.com

Kaplan, Elizabeth «Taiga»
Tarrytown, New York. Marshall Cavendish corporation,
1996.

Encarta Encyclopedia, ed.
2000

---

The taiga is a moist
subarctic forest that begins where the Tundra ends. The
winters are long, dark and cold with lots of snow, and the
summers are warm and short when the daylight can be up to 20
hours long. The average climate for the taiga each year
falls below -32°F (0°C). The
taiga can be as low as -76°F (-60°C). In the summer
the temperature can reach as high as 104°F (40°C).
The major type of vegetation in the taiga biome are
coniferous evergreens. Needles on evergreen trees of the
taiga are thin, wax-covered and they do not fall off in the
fall. The conifers of the taiga keep their leaves all year
around. Needles are the leaves in the taiga biome. Conifers
are adapted to the taiga environment because they lose less
water and shed snow more easily because of their conical
shape. Some types of adaptations in the animals are
migration, heavier coats of fur, and some change color, such
as the snow-shoe rabbit. Mice and moles live in tunnels
under the snow. Some animals that live in the taiga are
bears, badger, beavers, reindeer, foxes, wolverine and
squirrels. Many birds migrate to the taiga during the spring
because there are so many insects to feed on after the snow
melts. The latitude range is approximately between
50°-60° North latitude.

The taiga climate under
Köppen’s classification system are Dfb and Dfc. The
letters of the climate codes mean the following; D = snow
climates, f = sufficient precipitation in all months, b =
warmest month average under71.6°F (22°C) at least
4 months have an average of over 50°F (10°C), and
c = Fewer than 4 months with average temperatures over
50°F (10°C).

The average temperature
per year is 32°F (0°C) The average temperature for
the summer can be over 50°F (10°C). The average
winter temperature is under 26. 6°F (-3°C). The
highest temperature for the taiga biome has been 104°F
(40°C). I guess it would be an uncomfortable place for
humans to live in. However, millions of people live
there.

The average precipitation
per year is about 40 inches. The average precipitation for
the summer is between 10-20 inches. The average
precipitation for the winter is between 20-40 inches. The
type of precipitation that falls in the taiga climate are
rain in summer and
mostly snow in winter.

Something I find
interesting about the climate of this biome is that the
temperature can change from one extreme to another. I didn’t
think that a place farther north from us could have higher
temperatures then we do.

By Harold Pilskan, 2001

 

bibliography:

Quayl,L. (1999) Weather.
New York, NY: Crescent Books. (1987). World Atlas. New York,
NY Rand McNally and Company. (1976)

Compton’s Encyclopedia.
Chicago IL: Comptons Company. (1993)

Merriem Webster’s
Collegiate Dictionary Springfield MA: Merriam Bebster
Incorporated.

Taiga Biome: Location, Climate, Temperature, Precipitation, Plants and Animals

A biome is a geographical region on the surface of the earth with specific climatic features such as temperature and precipitation and favors only certain plant and animal life. This constitutes an ecosystem that is able to sustain itself with regard to the various adaptations it has.

Consequently, deserts, rainforests and grasslands are biomes since they have a specific location on the earth’s surface and have a climate that is unique to a specific animal and plant life. Apart from the oceans, the largest biome in the world is the Taiga biome, which means forest in Russia. It is also known as the needle-leaf forest or the boreal forest. This article will expound on the Taiga biome, giving its location, climate, temperature range, plant and animal life.

Contents

• Location of Taiga Biome
• Climate of Taiga Biome
• Temperature
• Precipitation
• Plants of Taiga Biome
  • Coniferous Trees
  • Rare Plants (Not Common)
  • Bushes
  • Others
• Animals of Taiga Biome
  • Mammals
  • Birds
  • Insects

Location of Taiga Biome

The Taiga biome stretches in the Northern Hemisphere, taking huge chunks of North America and Eurasia, especially Canada and Russia, respectively. It also stretches in Northern Europe in countries such as Finland, Norway and Sweden and spans across Alaska and Scandinavia.

It occupies about 27% of the Earth’s surface. It is located south of the Tundra biome, which is characterized by a land frozen by ice and constant snow. Because of its location, the Taiga biome is fairly cold. It is to the north of the temperate deciduous forests and grasslands, which are warmer. It is located above the Tropic Cancer between northern latitudes of 50° and 70°.

Climate of Taiga Biome

The tropical rainforests are between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn and, thus, are warm. Nevertheless, the Taiga biome is situated close to the Arctic Circle, which is the next major latitude above the Tropic of Cancer. The areas around this latitude are freezing cold. Moreover, there are cold winds that blow the cold Arctic air into the biome, making it extremely cold most of the year. Hence, this climate is called the subarctic climate.

The earth rotates around the sun annually. Geographically this means that there has to be an earth surface that is exposed to the sun for a period of time and seasonal change. However, due to this tilt of the sun, the biome faces away from the sun resulting in the long winters. And the winters are extremely cold. Another effect is that there is less radiation from the sun to heat the land up. It is for these reasons that the summer is barely 3 months and winter is double that.

Precipitation in this biome takes place in both winter and summer. During winter, it falls as snow, while in summer, it falls as rain. Dew is also a form of precipitation in this biome, though overshadowed by snow and rain. For over half a year, there is constant falling of snow with an annual height of 50-100cm. The summer season enjoys an average rainfall of 25-50cm annually, bringing the average precipitation to about 75cm.

Temperature

Taiga biome starts where the Tundra biome ends. The biome is, therefore, characterized by a lot of cold throughout most of the year. There are two major seasons, that is, winter and summer. Typically, due to cold, the summers are short, spanning about 50 to 100 days per annum with over half the year experiencing winter. Winter has temperatures as low as -54°C and as high as -1°C. As a result, during winter, there is a lot of snow falling, and the land is frozen with ice.

This lowers the average temperature to below 0°C. However, though short, the summers are warm and encourage the growth of some plants. This warmth ensures humidity, a basic requirement for plant growth. With temperatures of between -7°C and 20°C, most of the ice melts, giving way for aeration of the soil, which is essential for plant life. Also, during these limited days, there are clear skies and no frost in the biome. The warm temperatures reduce snowfall and encourage rainfall, which helps plant life as well as animal life.

Autumn and spring are the shortest seasons in the biome to the point that they are almost insignificant. Spring enables animals that had gone on hibernation to come out to the wild in preparation for the summer season. It is at this time that large water bodies begin to melt, giving way for watering points for animals. The seasonal change of the Taiga biome translates to temperatures that are either hot and humid or very cold during the year.

Precipitation

The taiga experiences relatively low precipitation throughout the year, which is normally 200–750 mm (7.9–29.5 in) annually and in some areas, 1,000 mm (39 in). Most of the precipitation in the taiga falls as rain in the summer, but also as fog and snow. The fog is especially predominant in low-lying areas during and after the thawing of frozen Arctic seas.

The sunshine is not abundant in the affected taiga areas, even during the long summer days. As evaporation is consequently low for most of the year, precipitation exceeds evaporation and is sufficient to sustain the dense vegetation growth, including large trees.

Snow may remain on the ground for as long as nine months in the northernmost extensions of the taiga biome. The total precipitation in a year is 30 – 85 cm (12 – 33 in).

Plants of Taiga Biome

The biome is home to various species of plants. These plants are adapted to an extremely cold climate. The biome mainly consists of the coniferous trees, evergreen and spruces. These conifers are the most dominant type of trees in the Taiga biome. There are other plant species such as aspen and birch, which owing to their broad leafology are able to maximize the absorption of light despite the climate of this biome. There are also some lichens and mosses.

Adaptation is essential for plants to survive in this type of biome. They have to develop special key features that ensure they adapt to the varying climate of the Taiga biome. Leaves are the core source of food manufacture for plants, and a lot of energy is needed. The absence of sunlight in the biome is an inhibiting factor, which means that plants have to have adaptable leaves.

Other than the aspen and birch, the evergreen has green leaves throughout the year, thus the plant name ‘evergreen.’ This means they have ample food due to the presence of chlorophyll in their leaves. Furthermore, this plant does not shed its leaves and keeps the same leaves for a very long time, enabling them to use minimal solar energy. This makes the plant to grow in breadth and length rather than growing numerous leaves.

Coniferous Trees

• Pines
• Spruce
• Cedar
• Hemlock
• Larches
• Fir
• Birch

Rare Plants (Not Common)

• Oak
• Willow
• Alder
• Maple
• Elm
• Aspen
• Rowan

Bushes

• Wild Strawberry
• Blueberry
• Bilberry
• Cowberry
• Cranberry
• Lingonberry
• Cloudberry
• Partridgeberry

Others

• Ferns
• Ramps
• Morels
• Grasses
• Lichens
• Mosses

Plants also exhibit other structures in their morphology, such as needle-like leaves, which minimize the surface area of the leaf in contact with the atmosphere to reduce water loss through transpiration. They are also waxy to reduce the chances of freezing or drying of the leaves. They keep their needle-like leaves throughout the year so that they can start photosynthesis as soon as the weather gets warm.

These trees grow close to each other, giving them protection from excessive wind. Coniferous trees are conical in shape, with their branches pointing downwards. It’s a feature that lets the snow slide off the slanted branches rather than pile up, which can freeze the plant. Other than that, continuous falling of snow on plants may add to their weight, which leads to breaking off of stems and branches.

The biome is also favorable for crop farming. There are various growing seasons that vary with the climatic changes in the biome. Countries such as Finland and Scandinavia get long growing seasons, with areas near the Tundra biome getting the shortest growing seasons.

Animals of Taiga Biome

There is a limit to the number of animals that can survive in this biome due to the cold temperatures and climatic variations. Still, there are many animal species spanning from mammals, birds and a variety of insect species.

Mammals

• Bears(Brown bear, American black bear, Asiatic black bear, Polar bear, Grizzly bear)
• Siberian Tigers
• Arctic fox
• Wolf (Arctic wolf, Grey wolf)
• Deer
• Moose
• Elk
• Caribou
• Ermine
• Moles
• Squirrels
• Chipmunks
• Bobcats
• Snowshoe Hares
• Wolverines
• Lynxes(Canada lynx, Eurasian lynx)
• River Otter(North American river otter, European otter)
• Weasel(Siberian weasel, Least weasel)
• Coyote
• Badger
• Stoat
• Sable

Birds

• Sparrows
• Finches
• Woodpeckers
• Crows
• Eagles
• Rough-legged buzzard or hawk
• Owls, Snowy owls
• Raven
• Falcons, Peregrine Falcons
• Snow geese
• Siberian thrush
• Warbler
• Grouse
• Crossbills

Insects

• Mosquitoes
• Ants

The herbivorous animals are found in parts of the biome where there are more trees to feed on. The presence of snow in the Taiga biome translates to ponds and water bodies during spring and summer. These are usually the breeding grounds for insects and serve as a source of food for rodents and birds, and for this reason, they can be said to be keystone species.

Birds from other biomes come to the Taiga biome to nest and feed on these insects and then migrate towards the end of the summer to their respective biomes. However, seed eaters such as sparrows and finches stay in the biome all year round.

Animals in the biome have to have adaptive features in order to survive in this cold climate. During the summer season, there are more animals on sight than during winter. This is because most of these animals either migrate to warmer biomes where they can cope easily, especially for birds, or hibernate till the next summer season.

Bears are famous for this. They store volumes of food in their habitat enough to last them for 6 months when they will next see daylight. Migration is, at times, made difficult even for birds if the rate of snowfall is heavy. Alternatively, there are animals that do not migrate nor hibernate.

They are specifically adapted to the cold. Features such as a thick layer of fat for mammals and numerous feathers ensure the warmth of the body is conserved despite the surrounding. Tigers have large paws to walk through deep snow.

Feeding habits do not change. Because some animals still need to eat during the winter season, they use camouflage, a common feature for animals such as ermine and snowshoe hare. They are able to change their fur coats from the normal brown to white during winter, enabling them to move in the snow without being noticed.

taiga | Plants, Animals, Climate, Location, & Facts

boreal forest in Alaska

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Related Topics:

Arctic
coniferous forest
forest-tundra
lichen woodland
closed canopy forest

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Summary

Read a brief summary of this topic

taiga, also called boreal forest, biome (major life zone) of vegetation composed primarily of cone-bearing needle-leaved or scale-leaved evergreen trees, found in northern circumpolar forested regions characterized by long winters and moderate to high annual precipitation. The taiga, “land of the little sticks” in Russian, takes its name from the collective term for the northern forests of Russia, especially Siberia.

The taiga, which is also known as the boreal (meaning northern) forest region, occupies about 17 percent of Earth’s land surface area in a circumpolar belt of the far Northern Hemisphere. Northward beyond this limit, the taiga merges into the circumpolar tundra. The taiga is characterized predominantly by a limited number of conifer species—i.e., pine (Pinus), spruce (Picea), larch (Larix), fir (Abies)—and to a lesser degree by some deciduous genera such as birch (Betula) and poplar (Populus). These trees reach the highest latitudes of any trees on Earth. Plants and animals in the taiga are adapted to short growing seasons of long days that vary from cool to warm. Winters are long and very cold, the days are short, and a persistent snowpack is the norm. The taiga biomes of North America and Eurasia display a number of similarities, even sharing some plant and animal species.

Origin

During the final period of maximum cold temperatures (23,000 to 16,500 years ago) in the latter part of the Pleistocene Ice Age (which ended 11,700 years ago), species that now constitute the taiga were displaced as far south as 30° N latitude by the continental glaciers of Europe, Asia, and North America and by the hyperarid and extremely cold environments of unglaciated Asia and North America. As the glaciers began to retreat gradually about 18,000 years ago, species of the taiga began to move northward in Europe and North America. In eastern and central North America the northward movement of the forest was relatively steady and gradual. An exception to this progression occurred about 9,000 years ago in western Canada, when white spruce spread rapidly northward across 2,000 km (1,240 miles) of newly deglaciated land in only 1,000 years. This rapid migration resulted from seed dispersal facilitated by strong northward winds caused by clockwise atmospheric circulation around the remnant ice cap of northern Quebec and the western part of Hudson Bay.

Because so much of Earth’s water was bound up in ice at this time, sea levels were lower than they are today, and this allowed migrations of various terrestrial species to occur. Many areas that are now islands were then connected to the nearby mainland; e.g., the British Isles were linked to Europe. As the climate warmed during the last stages of the glacial period, but before the sea level rose to its current position, some plants and animals of the mainland European taiga ecosystem migrated to Britain. This biota exists today as part of the taiga in the Highlands of Scotland. The areas of lowland central Alaska, the central Yukon territory, and the Far East region of Russia, which had climates too arid to permit the formation of ice sheets, were connected by the Bering Land Bridge, across which many species migrated. As a result, today across Alaska a gradient in plant characteristics can be observed, ranging from typical North American forms in the east to those with Eurasian characteristics in the west.

Distribution

The taiga regions of North America and Eurasia are broad belts of vegetation that span their respective continents from Atlantic to Pacific coasts. In North America the taiga occupies much of Canada and Alaska. Although related transition forest types are present in the northern tier of the lower 48 United States, true taiga stops just north of the southern Canadian border. The vast taiga of Asia extends across Russia and southward into northeastern China and Mongolia. In Europe most of Finland, Sweden, and Norway are covered with taiga. A small, isolated area of boreal forest in the Scottish Highlands lacks some continental species but does contain the most widespread conifer of the Eurasian taiga, Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris).

The position of the taiga generally is controlled by the degree of warmth experienced during the growing season, the temperature of the soil, and the extreme minimum winter temperature. The taiga biome consists of three roughly parallel zones: closed-canopy forest, lichen woodland or sparse taiga, and forest-tundra. The closed-canopy forest is the southernmost portion of the taiga. It contains the greatest richness of species, the warmest soils, the highest productivity, and the longest growing season within the boreal zone. North of the closed-canopy forest is the lichen woodland—a smaller parallel zone of sparse forest or woodland in which tree crowns do not form a closed canopy. Lichen mats and tundralike vegetation make up a significant portion of the ground cover. To the north of the lichen woodland lies forest-tundra, which occurs along the northern edge of tree growth (tree line). Patches of trees consisting of only a few species dot restricted portions of the landscape, forming a complex mosaic with tundra. Many trees in the forest-tundra zone have never been known to produce viable seeds or have done so only sporadically. These trees were established during warmer climatic episodes from a few hundred to a few thousand years ago and have persisted since, usually by vegetative (asexual) reproduction. Forest fires in this zone remove trees, and, because of the lack of reproduction, only unburned patches of trees remain.

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The closed-canopy forest, or southern taiga zone, on both continents is not distributed along a strictly east-west axis. At the western margin of Europe, the warming influence of the Gulf Stream allows the closed-canopy forest to grow at its northernmost location, generally between about 60° and 70° N. In western North America the Kuroshio and North Pacific currents likewise warm the climate and cause the northward deflection of the forest into Alaska and Yukon in Canada. On the eastern margin of the continents, the taiga is deflected southward to between about 50° and 60° N by the cold polar air masses that flow south along these coasts. This is the southernmost limit of the taiga, to the south of which, in humid eastern North America and Europe, lies a northern deciduous broad-leaved transition forest. In this forest small stands of boreal conifers are distributed on cooler or less-productive sites such as peaty wetlands. In the arid centre of both continents, the closed-canopy boreal forest is bordered to the south by a forest parkland of trees and grassland.

The central portions of Eurasia and North America are regions of flat or gently rolling topography. There, the northern and southern boundaries of the taiga are broad and gradual; they have fluctuated by as much as 200 km (125 miles) during the past few thousand years. A well-defined but complex boundary is formed between taiga and alpine tundra on the mountains of the Pacific edge in western North America and the Far East region of Russia. Generally, the taiga does not come into contact with the humid temperate or subpolar rainforest of coastal Alaska and British Columbia because of high mountain barriers, but some low-elevation regions have a transition zone often characterized by trees that are a hybrid of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) and white spruce (P. glauca). In Norway and Scotland a variant form of the taiga occupies extremely humid environments.

Practically all the large river systems of the taiga of Siberia, including the Ob, Yenisey, and Lena rivers, are northward-flowing. The Ob in western Siberia forms a great lowland basin with a considerable percentage of the land surface covered with poorly drained peaty wetlands. In such situations within the taiga a closed-canopy forest is generally absent.

Taiga (Boreal Forest) Biome: Temperature, Climate, Location, Plants, Animals

Taiga biome is derived from the Russian word, meaning forest. Despite that fact that it’s the largest terrestrial biome in the world, it’s a cold and lonely place, and many people are not familiar with the name. Although Taiga biome is so cold and remote, humans have had a deep influence here. Ancient humans hunted animal species like the giant sloth to extinction. However, modern humans have caused more devastation in this biome in the past 400 years than those hunters did in 1000 years. Extensive hunting and trapping have brought some of the Taiga biome animals to the edge of extinction. But government intervention has slowed down this heinous activity, and we may see the population of these animals explode again in the near future.

Taiga biome, also referred to as boreal forest, coniferous forest or snow forest, is a biome consisting mainly of coniferous trees such as pines, lurches, and spruces. It spans across Eurasia and North America. The taiga biome is situated near the top of the world, with tundra biome occurring just below it.

Table of Contents

• Temperature
• Climate
• Location
• Precipitation
• Plants
• Animals

Temperature

The average temperature in the taiga biome is below freezing point for half of the year. During winter, temperatures range between -54 to -1 degrees Celsius (-65 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit). Winters are freezing with a lot of snow. In the summer, the temperature range plummets to -7 degrees Celsius (20 degrees Fahrenheit). The highest temperature in summer might be 21 degrees Celsius (70 degrees Fahrenheit). The summer months in the taiga biome are typically warm, rainy and humid. Also, the summers are short and experience 50 to 100 days without frost.

Climate

The most part of taiga biome climate is dominated by Arctic air. Uniquely cold winds carry along extremely cold air from the Arctic Circle to this biome. During clear nights, when cloud cover is unavailable, the temperatures even plummet further. Due to the earth’s tilt, the taiga biome faces away from the sun during winter.

READ:  Tundra Biome: Climate, Precipitation, Location, Seasons, Plants, Animals

This means radiation barely reaches the ground to heat it up. Winters come with exceedingly cold conditions and lasts for six months. Summer experiences rainy, hot and short season in this biome. In the taiga biome, fall is the shortest season. Spring is characterized by scintillating flowers, melting ponds, and animals coming out of hibernation.

Location

The taiga biome is situated in the north part of the northern hemisphere and occurs in the continents of America, Asia, and Europe. It spans across Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia and spreads through the northern hemisphere.

Precipitation

Precipitation takes place in two forms in the taiga biome: snow and rain. Precipitation falls in the form of snow during winter months; the annual precipitation being 20 to 40 inches (50 to 101 cm). Rainfall in the taiga biome typically occurs in the moist summer, registering an average annual rainfall of 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 cm). This brings the average precipitation in this biome to approximately 40 inches (101cm).

Plants

Since the climate of taiga biome is extremely cold, there are only a few verities of plants. Coniferous tree with cones are the most dominant tree species in this biome. There are four dominant kinds of conifers here; spruce, evergreen, pine, and fir. The fourth dominant coniferous tree in the taiga is a deciduous tree known as tamarack. Under specific conditions, broad-leafed trees like aspen and birch have developed ability to endure the harsh conditions in this biome.

Plants have developed unique adaptations to endure the extremely cold conditions of the taiga biome, including their type, shape, leaf, color and root system. For example, evergreen trees are always green, and since they don’t shed their leaves when temperatures cool down, they don’t grow them back when spring sets in.

Plants use lots of energy to develop new leaves. These plants derive their energy from the sun and soil. Soil acts as a nutrient source, while sunlight aid photosynthesis. The soil in the taiga biome is nutrient-deficient, and the sun is scarce. These two aspects limit the quantity of energy in the tree. By not shading their leaves, the evergreens can utilize that limited energy for other important aspects like structural growth, instead of growing new leaves.

While the taiga biome has fairly high precipitation, the ground becomes frozen in the winter, which means plant roots cannot get water. Some plants have adapted narrow need-like leaves, instead of broad leaves, to minimize water loss through the process of transpiration. Also, evergreen trees contain less sap to minimize the risk of needle damage coming from freezing temperatures.

However, the needles encompass a chemical that usually repels animals trying to eat the needles. The characteristic dark green color of the plant needles helps absorb sunlight, and because the needles are ever available, once the temperature starts to become warm, photosynthesis starts immediately. The evergreens have also adapted a conical shape that lets the snow to slide off the branches instead of piling up.

The piling up of snow is disadvantageous as it can cause the branches to break due to their weight. Other plant species found in the taiga biome include Black Spruce, Douglas Fir, Jack Pine, White Fir, White Spruce, Balsam Fir, Paper Birch, Eastern Red Cedar and Siberian Spruce.

Animals

The cold temperatures limit the number of animal species that can survive in the tiger biome throughout the year. Typical examples of large animals that live in the taiga biome include bears, dears, and mouse. Typical examples of smaller animals that live in this biome include moles, squirrels, chipmunks, bobcats, and ermine.

The taiga biome harbors numerous species of birds and insects like woodpeckers, bald eagle, warblers, chickadee. The ponds and bogs found in every part of the taiga biome in the summer offer incredible breeding grounds for a huge array of insects. Lots of migratory birds come to the taiga biome to reproduce and feed on the large population of insects.

Animals living in the taiga biome have developed remarkable adaptation to cope with the cold conditions here. The majority of animals in this biome migrate to warmer areas at the onset of cold winter months. Other animals hibernate when temperature drop and they can stay that way until favorable climatic conditions manifest. Some animals have adapted to existing in the cold conditions by developing a layer of thick fur or feathers to insulate them from the freezing conditions.

On other occasions, animals change the color of their fur or feathers seasonally to avoid being spotted by predators. A typical example of a small animal that has developed this adaptation is the Ermine. Ermine has a natural dark brown coat, but changes it to white when winter sets in. This impressive adaptation helps the ermine to camouflage in the snow, making it hard for predators to spot it.

The taiga biome faces a formidable threat every day: Destruction by humans and nature. Nature causes destruction to this biome by instigating forest fires and diseases by parasites and herbicides. Also, spruce trees which grow on top bulky moss are habitually blown over by powerful winds. Plantation forestry, large-scale lumbering, soil scarification, introduction of exotic trees, the use of herbicides and pesticides and ditching are human factors that have led to habitat loss.

However, the greatest threat to taiga biome is large scale logging. The wood is transported to pulp factories to manufacture pulp and paper. Other threats to taiga biome include human-caused forest fires, mining, oil and gas exploration, road construction and climate change.

Photo by: pixabay

Taiga, Russia — Average Annual Weather

Average High/Low Temperature: Taiga

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	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
High °C	-12	-14	0	10	13	21	25	22	12	2	-5	-5
Low °C	-20	-23	-7	-1	2	9	14	11	2	-4	-12	-10
High °F	10	7	32	50	55	70	77	72	54	36	23	23
Low °F	-4	-9	19	30	36	48	57	52	36	25	10	14

Chance of sunny day: Taiga

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	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
%	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	3	0

Chance of rain: Taiga

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	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
%	0	0	17	40	53	37	40	33	63	40	20	10

Chance of windy day: Taiga

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	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
%	50	24	43	37	10	10	0	3	13	47	55	61

Chance of cloudy day: Taiga

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	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
%	100	100	97	96	86	71	100	97	93	100	92	100

Chance of fog day: Taiga

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	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
%	3	3	3	0	0	27	30	33	3	7	0	3

Chance of snow day: Taiga

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	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
%	93	69	60	30	17	3	0	0	3	73	72	87

Holiday Weather Blog

Climate, weather by months, average temperature in Taiga (Russia)

In Taiga, it is comfortable and cloudy in summer, and freezing, snowy, windy and cloudy in winter. During the year the temperature usually ranges from -21 °C to 23 °C and is rarely below -34 °C or above 28 °C . Based on the tourism score, the best time of the year to visit Taiga for the purpose of relaxing in warm weather is from end June to start August . IcyComfortable Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Now Now tourism score: 6.30.00.0 Monthly weather in Taiga. Click on a specific chart for more information. Warm season lasts 3.7 months , from May 17, to September 7, , with a maximum average daily temperature above 16 °C . The hottest month of the year in Taiga is July , with average temperature high 23 °C and low 14 °C . The cold season lasts 3.6 months , from November 18, to March 7, , with a minimum average daily temperature below -7 °C . The coldest month of the year in Taiga is January , with an average temperature high of -21 °C and minimum -14 °C . Average high and low temperatures in Taiga 0 °C C10°C10°C20°C20°C30°C30°C40°C40°C15 Jan-14°C15 Jan-14°C5 Jul.23°C5 Jul.23°C-21°C-21°C14°C14° C17 May16 °C17 May16 °C7 Sep 16 °C7 Sept 16 °C18 Nov-7 °C18 Nov-7 °C7 Mar-7 °C7 Mar-7 °C5 °C5 °C7 °C7 °C- 13°C-13°C-15°C-15°CNowNow Average daily maximum (red line) and minimum (blue line) temperature with ranges from 25th to 75th and from 10th to 90th percentiles. The thin dotted lines represent the corresponding average perceived temperatures. 11 ° C Average Jan. Feb. Mar Apr May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Maximum -14 ° C -11 ° C -3 ° C 6 ° C 15 ° C 21 ° C 23 ° C 20 ° C 13,000 13 OM 4 °C -6 °C -11 °C Minimum -21 ° C -19 ° C -12 ° C -3 ° C 5 ° C 14 ° C C 4 ° C -3 °C -12 °C -19 °C The graph below shows a summary of average hourly temperatures for the entire year. The horizontal axis is the day of the year, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day. Average hourly temperature in Taiga Taigayan hourly average temperature in February March Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec 0022446688101012121414161618182020222200 -9 °C frosty 0 °C very cold 7 °C cold 13°C cool 18 °C comfortable 24°C heat 29°C hot 35 °C znoyno Hourly average temperature with color coded ranges. Shaded areas represent night and civil twilight. La Ronge, Canada (at a distance of 7,623 kilometers) is a city at a considerable distance with temperatures that are closest to Taiga (see comparison). © OpenStreetMap contributors Compare Taiga to another city: Map In Taiga, the average percentage of sky covered by clouds experiences significant seasonal fluctuations throughout the year. The clearer part of the year in Taiga starts around 20 April and lasts 5.4 months , ending around 1 October . The clearest month of the year in Taiga is July , during which the sky averages clear , mostly clear or has Partly cloudy 56% of the time. The cloudier part of the year begins around October 1, and lasts 6.6 months , ending around April 20, . The most cloudy month of the year in Taiga is december , during which the sky is on average overcast or mostly cloudy 86% of of the time. Cloud categories in Taiga Cloud categories in TaigaMore clearMore cloudyMore cloudyJan.Feb.MarchApr.MayJulyAug.Sept.Oct.Nov.Dec.0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%2 Jul.59%2 Jul.59%15 Dec .13%15 Dec 13%20 Apr 36%20 Apr 36%1 Oct 37%1 Oct 37%NowNowNowPartly Cloudy Partly Cloudy 0% clear 20% partly cloudy 40% Partly cloudy 60% cloudy 80% overcast 100% Percentage of duration over time of each cloud band, broken down by the percentage of sky covered by clouds. Share Jan. Feb. Mar Apr May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. dec. More cloudy 84% 83% 78% 66% 53% 45% 44% 105 56% 53% 9000 73% 84% 86% more clear 16% 17% 22% 34% 47% 55% A wet day is a day on which at least 1 millimeter liquid precipitation or precipitation in liquid equivalent falls. The chances of wet days in Taiga fluctuate throughout the year. Wet season lasts 7.9 months from April 12, to December 9, , with more than 18% probability that a given day will be wet. The month with the most rainy days in Taiga is July , when on average there is at least 1 mm precipitation over 8. 6 days . Dryer season lasts 4.1 months from December 9, to 12 April . The month with the fewest rainy days in Taiga is February , when on average, over 2.4 days , there is at least 1 millimeter precipitation. Among the wet days we distinguish those on which there is only rain , only snow , or both . Based on this classification, the most common form of precipitation in Taiga varies throughout the year. Only rain is the most typical rainfall during 7.1 months , from March 31, to November 2, . The month with the maximum number of days when falls only rain is , in Taiga is July with an average of 8.6 days . Snow only is the most typical type of precipitation during 4.9 months , from November 2, to March 31, . Month with the most days when 9 falls0010 only snow , in Taiga — December with an average of 4. 6 days . Daily chance of rainfall in Taiga Daily chance of rainfall in TaigaSnowRainSnowFebruary March Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 0%0%10%10%20%20%30%30%40%40%50%50%60%60%70 %70%80%80%90%90%100%100%18 Jul 29%18 Jul 29%24 Jan 7%24 Jan 7%31 Mar 14%31 Mar 14%2 Nov 24% Nov 2 24% Jan 1 13% Jan 1 13% NowNowNowSnowRainSnow with rain Percentage of days with different types of precipitation excluding trace amounts: rain only, snow only, and mixed (both rain and snow fell on the same day) same day). Days Jan. Feb. Mar Apr May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. dec. Rain 0.0 d. 0.1 d. 0.9 d. 4.0 d. 7.2 d. 8.1 d. 7.7 in. 6.5 in. 4.6 in. 1. 2 in. 0.1 in. Snow with rain 2.7 d. 2.2 d. 2.3 d. 0.9 d. 0.1 d. 0.0 d. 0.0 in. 0.0 in. 1.5 in. 4.2 in. 4.6 in. Snow 0.2 in. 0.1 in. 0.5 in. 0.9 in. 0.5 in. 0.0 d. 0.0 d. 0.0 d. 0.3 d. 1.5 d. 0.8 d. Without Borders 2.9 d. 2.4 d. 3.7 d. 5.8 d. 7.8 d. 8.1 d. 7.7 in. 6.9 in. 7.5 in. 6.2 in. 5.0 in. To show change over the course of a month, rather than just a monthly total, we show the amount of rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered on each day of the year. There are 9 sighted in Taiga0010 some seasonal fluctuations in monthly rainfall. The rainy part of the year lasts 7.0 months , from April 8, to November 6, , with rainfall over a sliding 31-day period of at least 13 millimeters . The month with the most rainfall in Taiga is July , with an average rainfall of 47 millimeters . Part of the year no rain lasts 5.0 months , from 6 November to 8 April . The month with least rainfall in Taiga is January , with an average rainfall of 0 millimeters . Average monthly rainfall in Taiga Average monthly rainfall in TaigaRain in Feb.March Apr.MayJunJulAug.Sept.Oct.Nov.Dec.0 mm0 mm50 mm50 mm100 mm100 mm150 mm150 mm200 mm200 mm22 Jul.47 mm22 Jul.47 mm3 Feb.0 mm3 Feb.0 mm8 Apr.13 mm8 Apr.13 mm6 Nov.13 mm6 Nov.13 mm Average rainfall (solid line) accumulated over a rolling 31-day period centered on the day in question, with ranges of 25-75 and 10-90 percentiles. The thin dotted line is the corresponding mean snowfall. 9000 32 32 32 .8 mm Jan. Feb. Mar Apr May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. dec. rainfall 0.4 mm 0.5 mm 3.7 mm 17.3 mm 36.3 mm 43.6 mm 46.6 mm 40.3 mm 24.0 mm 7.5 mm 0.7 mm Snowfall As with rainfall, we consider snowfall accumulated over a rolling 31-day period centered on each day of the year. There are 9 sighted in Taiga0010 Significant seasonal fluctuations in monthly snowfall. The snowy part of the year lasts 7.4 months , from September 26, to May 6, , with the amount of snow over a sliding 31-day period of at least 25 millimeters . The month with the most snowfall in Taiga is November , with an average snowfall of 165 mm . The period of the year without snow lasts 4.7 months , from 6 May to 26 September . The least amount of snow falls in the area on August 4, , with an average total accumulation of 0 millimeters . Average monthly snowfall in Taiga Average monthly amount of snow in Taigasnegsnegyan in Feb.MarchApr.MayJunJulAug.Sept.Oct.Nov.Dec.0 mm0 mm100 mm100 mm200 mm200 mm300 mm300 mm400 mm400 mm1 Dec.185 mm1 Dec.185 mm4 Aug.0 mm4 Aug.0 mm11 Mar. 86 mm 11 Mar. 86 mm 26 Sept. 25 mm 26 Sept. 25 mm 6 May 25 mm 6 May 25 mm Average snowfall (solid line) accumulated over a rolling 31-day period centered on the day in question, with ranges of 25-75 and 10-90 percentiles. The thin dotted line is the corresponding mean rainfall. Jan. Feb. Mar Apr May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. dec. Snowfall 89.5 mm 74.6 mm 85.3 mm 53.8 mm 13.2 mm 0.5 mm 0.0 mm 8 .7 mm 81.7 mm 164.5 mm 163.8 mm The length of the day in Taiga varies greatly throughout the year. In 2022 the shortest day of the month is December 22 when daylight hours are 6 hours 56 minutes , and the longest is June 21 with daylight hours 17 hours 38 minutes . Number of hours of daylight and twilight in Taiga Number of hours of daylight and twilight in TaigayanFebruary March Apr May June Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 0h24h4h20h8h16h12h12h16h 8h20h4h24h0h12h10min20 Mar. 12h10min20 Mar.17h38min21 Jun.17h38min21 Jun 12 15 min 23 Sep 12 15 min 23 Sep 6 56 min 22 Dec 6 56 min 22 Dec nightnightdayNowNow Number of hours the sun is visible (black line). From the bottom (most yellow) to the top (greyest), the colored bands represent: full daylight, twilight (civil, nautical, and astronomical) and full night. Hours Jan. Feb. Mar Apr May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Daylight 7.7 hours 9.6 hours 11.9 hours 14.3 hours 16.4 hours 17.5 hours 16.9 hours 16.9 hours 15.0 hours 12.7 hours 10.3 hours 8.2 hours 7.0 hours The earliest sunrise of is at 4:29 June 18 and is the latest at 5 hours 20 minutes later at 9:49 December 29, . The earliest sunset of is at 16:41 on December 15, , and is the latest on 5 hours 27 minutes later at 22:08 on June 24, . DST is not introduced in Taiga in 2022. Sunrise and sunset with twilight in Taiga Sunrise and sunset with twilight in TaigayanFeb.MarchApr.MayJulyAug.Sep.Oct.Nov.Dec.246810121416182022018 Jun.4:2918 Jun 4:29 22: 08 24 Jun 22: 08 24 Jun 15 Dec 16:41 15 Dec 16:419:49 29 Dec 9:49 29 Dec 29 Daynight Night Night From bottom to top, the black lines are the previous solar midnight, sunrise, solar noon, sunset, and the next solar midnight. Day, twilight (civil, nautical, and astronomical) and night are indicated by colored bands ranging from yellow to grey. The figure below is a compact representation of the sun’s height (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and bearing (its compass direction) for each hour of each day during the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. Black isolines are contours of constant solar altitude. The chart below is a summary of the main lunar data for 2022. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas show when the Moon is above the horizon. Vertical gray bars (new moon) and blue bars (full moon) indicate the key phases of the moon. Rise, sunset and phases of the Moon in Taiga Taigayan rising, setting and phases of the moon in TaigayanFeb.March Apr.MayJulyAug.Sept.Oct.Nov.Dec.004488121216162020003 Jan.3 Jan.18 Jan.18 Jan.1 Feb.1 Feb.16 Feb.16 Feb.3 Mar 3 Mar 18 Mar 18 Mar 1 Apr 1 Apr 17 Apr 17 Apr 1 May 1 May 16 May 16 May 30 May 30 May 14 Jun 14 Jun 29Jun.29 Jun.14 Jul.14 Jul.29 Jul.29 Jul.12 Aug.12 Aug.27 Aug.27 Aug.10 Sep.10 Sept.26 Sep.26 Sep.10 Oct.10 Oct.25 Oct. 25 Oct. 8 Nov. 8 Nov. 24 Nov. 24 Nov. 8 Dec. 8 Dec. 23 Dec. 23 Dec. Time when the Moon is above the horizon (blue area), showing new moon (dark gray lines) and full moon (blue lines). Shaded areas represent night and civil twilight. We base comfort level on dew point, as it determines whether sweat will evaporate from the skin, cooling the body. A lower dew point makes you feel more dry, while a higher dew point makes you feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between day and night, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while temperatures may drop at night, a wet day usually gives way to a wet night. The perceived humidity level in Taiga, measured as the percentage of time during which the level of humidity comfort is characterized as damp , stuffy or heavy , does not change significantly throughout the year, remaining within 3 % of 3 all the time %. Humidity comfort levels in Taiga Humidity comfort levels in TaigayanFebruary March Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec 0%0%10%10%20%20%30%30%40%40%50%50%60%60%70 %70%80%80%90%90%100%100%12 Mar. 0%12 Mar.0%20 Jul.5%20 Jul.5%NowNowComfortableComfortableDryDry Dry 13°C comfortable 16 °C wet 18 °C damp 21°C stuffy 24°C heavy Percentage of time spent at different humidity comfort levels, classified by dew point. 0.5 in. Jan. Feb. Mar Apr May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. dec. Raw days 0.0 day 0.0 day 0.0 day 0.0 day 0.0 day 0.3 day 1.4 day 0.0 in. 0.0 in. 0.0 in. 0.0 in. This section describes the average hourly wind vector (speed and direction) over a large area at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages. In Taiga, the average hourly wind speed experiences Significant seasonal fluctuations throughout the year. The windier part of the year lasts 7.2 months , from October 10, to May 15, , with an average wind speed of over 14.2 kilometers per hour . The most windy month of the year in Taiga is December with an average hourly wind speed of 18.0 kilometers per hour . Quieter season lasts 4.8 months , from May 15 to October 10 . The calmest month of the year in Taiga is July with average hourly wind speed 10.2 kilometers per hour . Average wind speed in Taiga Average wind speed in TaygavetrenovetrenoJan. Feb.MarchApr.MayJulyAug.Sept.Oct.Nov.Dec.0 km/h0 km/h5 km/h5 km/h10 km/h10 km/h15 km/h15 km/h20 km/h20 km /h25 km/h25 km/h18 Dec.18.2 km/h18 Dec.18.2 km/h21 Jul.10.1 km/h21 Jul.10.1 km/h10 Oct.14.2 km/h10 Oct. 14.2 km/hMay 1514.2 km/hMay 1514.2 km/hNowNow Mean hourly mean wind speed (dark gray line) with ranges of 25-75 and 10-90 percentiles. Jan. Feb. Mar Apr May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. dec. Wind speed (kph) 17.5 17.2 16.8 15.4 13.9 11.3 10.2 10.8 12.5 16.8 .0 The prevailing mean hourly wind direction in Taiga varies throughout the year. Wind most often blows from west 3. 8 months , from 6 March to 29 June and 2.1 months , from 31 July to 4 October , with the maximum percentage of 40% of falling on on March 22, . The wind most often blows from East 1.1 months , from June 29 to July 31 , with the maximum percentage of 29% falling on July 8 . The wind most often blows from south 5.1 months , from October 4, to March 6, , while the maximum percentage of 58% of falls on January 1, . Wind direction in Taiga Wind direction in Taiga SWWZJJanFeb.MarchApr.MayJulyAug.Sep.Oct.Nov.Dec.0%100%20%80%40%60%60%40%80%20%100%0%NowNowWestSouthEastNorth North East South West Percentage of hours during which the average wind direction corresponds to each of the four main wind directions, excluding hours in which the average wind speed is less than 1. 6 km/h . The slightly shaded areas on the borders are the percentage of hours in the implied intermediate directions (northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest). To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Taiga during the year, we calculate two points for trips. Tourism score takes into account the presence of clear days without rain with an estimated temperature of 18 °C to 27 °C . Based on this score, the best time of the year to visit Taiga for general outdoor recreation is from end June to start August , with the highest score being the first week of July . Taiga Tourism Score Taigayan tourism score Feb.March Apr.MayJulyAug.Sep.Oct.Nov.Dec.002244668810106.36.30.00.0NowNowPrecipitationPrecipitation CloudinessCloudyTemperatureTourism score Tourism score (red line) and its components (shaded area): score cloudiness score (blue line) and precipitation score (green line). Beach/pool score takes into account clear days without rain with expected temperatures between 24 °C and 32 °C . Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Taiga for hot weather is from end of June to end of July , with the highest score being the first week of July . Beach/Pool Ball in Taiga Taigayan Beach/Pool Score Feb March Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 002244668810102.82.80.00.0NowNowPrecipitationPrecipitation Cloudy CloudyTemperature Beach/pool score (shaded area) and its components: temperature score (red line), cloud score (blue line) and precipitation score (green line). Method For each hour between 8:00 and 21:00 of each day in the analyzed period (from 1980 to 2016), independent scores are calculated for perceived temperature, cloudiness, and total precipitation. These scores are combined into a single hourly summary score, which is then combined into days, averaged over all years of the analyzed period, and smoothed. Our cloud score of is 10 for completely clear skies, falling linearly to 9 for mostly clear skies and 1 for completely overcast skies. Our precipitation score of , which is based on three-hour precipitation centered on the hour in question, is 10 for no precipitation, falling linearly to 9 for light precipitation, and to 0 for 1 millimeter precipitation or higher. Our tourism temperature score is 0 for a perceived temperature below 10 °C , increases linearly to 9 for 18 °C , to 10 for 24 °C , falls linearly to 9 for 27 °C and to 1 for 32 °C or higher. Our temperature score for beach/pool is 0 for perceived temperatures below 18 °C , increases linearly to 9 for 24 °C , to 10 for 28 °C , decreases linearly to 9 for 32 ° C and up to 1 for 38 °C or higher. Definitions of growing season vary around the world, but in the context of this description, we define it as the longest continuous period of temperatures above freezing (≥ 0°C) in a year (the Northern Hemisphere calendar year, or July 1 to 30 June in the Southern Hemisphere). The growing season in Taiga usually lasts 4.1 months ( 126 days ), from about May 19, to September 22, , rarely starting before May 2 or after June 4 and rarely ending before September 6 or after October 8 . Time spent in different temperature ranges and growing season in Taiga Time spent in different temperature ranges and growing season in TaigayanFebruary March Apr May June Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec 0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50 %50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%May 1950%May 1950%Sep 2250%Sep 2250%Jun 490%4 Jun.90%6 Sep.90%6 Sept.90%2 May10%2 May10%8 Oct.10%8 Oct.10%0%2 Dec.0%2 Dec.16 Jul.100%16 Jul .100 %NowNowThe next frostycoolcomfortablecold chilly -9 °C frosty 0 °C very cold 7 °C cold 13°C cool 18 °C comfortable 24°C heat 29°C hot 35°C hot Percentage of time spent in different temperature ranges. The black line is the percentage chance that a given day is within the growing season. Growth degree days is a measure of annual heat accumulation used to predict the development of plants and animals and is defined as all threshold exceedances of a given temperature minimum, excluding maximum temperature exceedances. In this description, the temperature minimum is 10 °C and maximum 30 °C . Based on growth degree-days alone, the first spring flowers in Taiga should appear around May 15, , appearing only occasionally before May 6, or after June 1, . Degree days of growth in Taiga Degree-days of growth in TaigayanFeb.MarchApr.MayJulyAug.Sep.Oct.Nov.Dec. C700 °C700 °C800 °C800 °C900 °C900 °C May 1550 °C May 1550 °C23 Jul.500 °C23 Jul.500 °C31 Dec.804 °C31 Dec.804 °CNowNow Average degree-days of growth accumulated over the year, with ranges from the 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentiles. This section describes the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the earth’s surface over a large area, fully accounting for seasonal variations in day length, the height of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation. The average daily incident shortwave solar energy experiences extreme seasonal fluctuations throughout the year. The brighter period of the year lasts 2.9 months , from May 12, to August 8, , with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 5.3 kWh . The brightest month in Taiga is June with an average value of 6.3 kWh . The darker period of the year lasts 4.2 months , from October 16, to February 22, , with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 1.6 kWh . The darkest month in Taiga is December with an average of 0.4 kWh . Average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Taiga Average daily incident short-wave solar energy in Taigabright dark dark Jan Feb March May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 0 kWh0 kWh1 kWh1 kWh2 kWh2 kWh3 kWh3 kWh4 kWh h4 kWh5 kWh5 kWh6 kWh6 kWh7 kWh7 kWh8 kWh8 kWh9kWh9 kWh1 Jul. 6.5 kWh1 Jul.6.5 kWh20 Dec.0.4 kWh20 Dec.0.4 kWh12 May5.3 kWh12 May5.3 kWh16 1.6 kWh 16 Oct 1.6 kWh 22 Feb 1.6 kWh 22 Feb 1.6 kWh Now Now 25–75 and 10–90 percentile ranges. 9000 9000 0.000 9000 0.000.000 9000 0.000.000 9000 0.000.000 9000 0.000.000 9000 0.000.000 9000 0.000ET Jan. Feb. Mar Apr May June Jul Aug Sept. Oct. Nov. dec. Solar energy (kWh) 0.6 1.4 2.7 4.2 5.5 6.3 6.0 4.9 3.2 0.7 In this description, the geographic coordinates of the Taiga are 56.064° latitude, 85.622° longitude and an altitude of 260 m above sea level. The topography within a radius 3 kilometers of Taiga has only moderate elevation changes with a maximum elevation change of 54 meters and an average altitude of 248 meters . Within a radius of 16 kilometers, also has only moderate elevation changes ( 124 meters ). Within a radius of 80 kilometers, has moderate elevation changes ( 362 meters ). Terrain within 9 radius0010 3 kilometers from the taiga trees ( 46% ) and agricultural vehicles ( 34% ), in radius 16 kilometers — trees ( 98% ), and in radius 80 80 kilometers) — trees ( 68% ) and farmland ( 21% ). This report describes typical weather in Taiga based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from 1 January 1980 to December 31, 2016. Temperature and dew point There is only one weather station in our network, Kemerovo Airport, suitable for use as a proxy for historical temperature and dew point data for Taiga. At a distance of 93 kilometers from Taiga, closer than our threshold of 150 kilometers, this station is considered close enough to be relied upon as the primary source of temperature and dew point data. The station data have been corrected for the difference in altitude between the station and Taiga in accordance with the International Standard Atmosphere, as well as for the relative change in MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis between these two points. Note that the station data themselves may have been subsequently supplemented by other nearby stations or MERRA-2 reanalysis. Other data All data related to the position of the Sun (such as sunrise and sunset) are calculated using astronomical formulas from Jean Mius’ Astronomical Algorithms, 2nd Ed. . All other weather data, including cloudiness, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar energy flux, are taken from the MERRA-2 New Time Retrospective Analysis. This reanalysis combines various measurements over a wide area in a modern global meteorological model to reconstruct hourly weather history around the world on a 50 km grid. Land use data are from the SHARE Global Land Cover Monitoring Network database published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Altitude data is from the Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM), published by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The names, locations and time zones of places and some airports are from the GeoNames Geographical Database. Time zones for airports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com. Maps are copyright © OpenStreetMap. Disclaimer The information on this site is provided as is, without any guarantee of its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. The weather data may contain errors, glitches and other defects. We are not responsible for any decisions made on the basis of the information provided on this website. We pay special attention to the fact that for a number of important data types we rely on reconstructions based on the MERRA-2 model. With huge advantages in temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have typical model errors, (2) use coarse sampling on a 50 km grid and therefore cannot reconstruct local variations in many microclimates, and (3) experiencing particular weather difficulties in some coastal areas, especially on smaller islands. We also caution that our travel points are only as accurate as the data on which they are based, that the weather conditions in any particular place and at any time are unpredictable and changeable, and that points calculation reflects a certain set of preferences that may not coincide with preferences of the individual reader. Please see our full terms and conditions contained on the Terms of Use page.

Taiga Kemerovo region, Russia © OpenStreetMap contributors

climate, information about climatic conditions in Taiga (Russia, Kemerovo region) from Meteo-TV

Maximum temperature, 1961-1990

January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
-fourteen -12 -3 7 16 22 25 22 fifteen 5 -5 -eleven

Minimum temperature 1961-1990

May

January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
-23 -22 -fourteen -four 3 12 13 ten 5 -3 -13 -twenty

Precipitation, mm, 1961-1990

May

January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
29 twenty 22 31 fifty 62 68 72 47 54 48 36

Precipitation days 1961-1990

May

January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
21 13 13 12 fourteen fourteen 13 fifteen fourteen twenty 21 21

CLIMATE DATA

Climate information is the result of averaging data on meteorological parameters for the specified time periods. The maximum daytime and minimum nighttime temperatures are the result of averaging all days within a given month. The data of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) (period 1961-1990), which are the result of observations at meteorological stations, are used for about 3000 of the largest settlements. For all stations from our database (for periods 1961-1990 and 1981-2010 and their comparisons), either data from the University of East Anglia (Climatic Research Unit, CRU) (for mainland settlements) or reanalysis data from the US National Center for Forecasts (NCEP/NCAR) (for island settlements and stations in Antarctica) were used. Official WMO data and data calculated by CRU (or NCEP/NCAR) may differ. The data is for informational purposes only and may not be used for commercial or scientific purposes.

Geography, climate

Administration of the Luga municipal district > About the district > Geography, climate

Geography, climate

Brief description of the district

Luga district was founded in September 1927. Historically, it was preceded by Luga County, formed in 1781.

The modern boundaries of the district and their description were established by the regional law No. 65-oz on September 28, 2004. The district includes 14 municipalities — 2 urban and 12 rural settlements, of which: Luga and Tolmachevskoe — urban; Volodarskoye, Voloshovskoye, Dzerzhinskoye, Zaklinskoye, Mshinskoye, Oredezhskoye, Osminskoye, Retyunskoye, Serebryanskoye, Skreblovskoye, Torkovichskoye and Yam-Tesovskoye are rural settlements.

The area is located in the southern part of the Leningrad region. In the north it borders with Gatchina, in the east with Tosnensky, in the west with Slantsevsky, in the northwest with the Volosovsky municipal districts of the Leningrad Region, in the southeast — with the Novgorod Region, in the south — with the Pskov Region.

The city of Luga is a major transport hub, located 140 kilometers from St. Petersburg on a highway and railway linking the largest regions: the Russian north-western, Ukrainian-Belarusian, the Baltic countries.

The area of ​​the district is 597037 ha. Including agricultural land — 224647 hectares, of which agricultural land — 83734 hectares. Forests are located on 235466 hectares, lands of industry, transport, radio broadcasting, television, computer science, energy, defense and other purposes occupy 104901 hectares.

Luga district is located in the southern part of the Leningrad region. In the north it borders with Gatchina, in the east with Tosnensky, in the west with Slantsevsky, in the northwest with the Volosovsky municipal districts of the Leningrad Region, in the southeast — with the Novgorod Region, in the south — with the Pskov Region.

The city of Luga is a major transport hub that connects the largest regions: the Russian north-western, Ukrainian-Belarusian, the Baltic countries.

The area of ​​the city is 20764 hectares. The resident population as of January 1, 2022 is 33,295 people, the largest settlement in the Luga municipal district.

Terrain

Rough terrain also affects the weather. Elevated areas, for example, receive more rainfall. The terrain is hilly and flat. The hilly-flat relief of the terrain, characteristic of the Luga region, arose about 25 thousand years ago, during the last, so-called Valdai, glaciation, when masses of ice descended from the mountains of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The movement and melting of ice proceeded under various climatic conditions. On its way, a powerful glacier captured those stony rocks on which it lay, frayed them, and transferred them to another place. Elevations in the form of hills and long ridges formed along the edges of the glacier. And on the site of melting ice, in the lowlands, glacial reservoirs were created. So, for example, near the village of Turovo there is a lowland rich in peat, limited by a sandy ridge 10-15 meters high and 2-3 kilometers long. Nearby are the Nelayskoye, Turovskoye and Zaklinskoye lakes. Quite often you can find mounds of sand and gravel here, similar to the railroad tracks. This is bzy. But the most characteristic forms of glacial relief are round hills-kams.

The highest heights in the region are Gnilsko-Shiltsevskiye (155 meters above sea level) and Lipovaya Gora (140 meters).

Hydrogeological and hydrological conditions

Hydrological features:

Rivers of the Luga region
There are about 250 rivers and streams in total.
$ Luga (Finnish Laukaanjoki, Vodsk Laugaz) is considered the longest river in the Leningrad region, crossing it from southeast to northwest.
The length of Luga is 353 km. Width — 15-25 m. The basin area is 13.2 thousand km2. The river originates in the southern part of the Netyl swamps (about 40 km from Novgorod) and flows into the Luga Bay of the Gulf of Finland. The depth of the Luga is not constant due to sediments and variability of the bed, the current speed is on average 0.15-0.25 m per second.

Mixed food, with a predominance of snow. Freezes in early December, opens in early April. Navigable in some areas (173 km). Along the banks there are coniferous and mixed forests, in the area of ​​villages there are fields. In the upper reaches, the Luga flows in low, sometimes swampy banks.

The middle and lower reaches are characterized by hilly-flat relief. There is the Kingisepp hydroelectric power station, the cities of Luga and Kingisepp on Luga. The largest tributaries of the Luga within the region are: Oredezh, Saba, Yashera, Kemka.

Oredezh — right tributary of the Luga, length 192 km. In the upper reaches of the river in 1948, a cascade of hydroelectric power stations was built: Daimischenskaya, Rozhdestvenskaya, Siverskaya, Belogorskaya.

Oredezh originates in the ponds near the village of Dontso, called Kyurlevsky Quarry. Not far from the confluence with the Luga, 3 km from the right bank of the Oredezh, there is a village of the same name and a railway station. It flows into the Luga River near the village. Flat.
$ Lizard — the right tributary of the Luga River. A small winding river originates from the Mshinsky swamps.
The length of the river is 78 km. The Lizard, the right tributary of the Luga, is formed from the confluence of two rivers — Sosnovka and Kamchatka. In the upper reaches the river is very winding, the banks are low, overgrown with willow and aspen. In the middle and lower reaches of the Lizard, it flows quickly in beautiful steep banks with numerous outcrops of bedrock — Devonian sandstones, forming sandy cliffs on the left bank of the river. The people are called by numbers: No. 1 — No. 5. The height of the cliffs is approximately in the range of 10-30m.
$ Saba is the left tributary of the Luga. It flows from the Krasnogorsk lake.
The length of the river is 90 km. Initially, it looks like a small river, but soon, due to numerous tributaries, it becomes more full-flowing. In the upper reaches of the village of Elemno, the river flows in low swampy banks overgrown with bushes and deciduous forest, and from Elemno to the mouth of the left tributary of the Sabitsa, it leaves the forest and flows through a swampy plain. The bottom of the river is sandy, boulders come across. There are small shivers and rifts.
$ Vrevka is a small river that flows into the Luga River and flows out of Lake Toloni.
“On the Luga River, establish a new city near the tract, where the Vrevka River flows into the Luga” — the order of Empress Catherine II on the creation of the city, dated August 3, 1777.
$ Bystrica connects Lake Vrevo with Cheremenetsky. There is a hydroelectric power plant on this river.
$ Rapotka connects Lake Cheremenechkoe with Lake Toloni.
$ Obla. It originates from Lake Omchino and flows into the Vrevka River. The length of the river is 35 km
p. Dam is considered the smallest Luga river and resembles a stream. It originates from the swamps and flows into the Luga River.

The largest lakes in the Luga region

Names of lakes	Area (sq km)	Length (km)	Largest
			width (m)	depth (m)
Cheremenets	15. 5	14.3	1.900	32
Vrevo	12.8	13.8	1.750	51/44
Samro	40.0	—	—	5
Syaberskoye	15.4	8.25	1.840	8
Rakovichskoe	3.5	6.5	0.500	31/24
Merevskoe	3.9	3.9	1,000	16
Kalishchenskoe	3.0	3.0	1.750	18
Nelayskoye	18. 50	18.50	0.200	14

The area occupied by lakes and rivers is 21 thousand hectares. In the center of the district there is one of the most beautiful water basins — Lake Cheremenets, along the banks of which there are health resorts: the Borovoye rest house, the Krasny Val sanatorium, the Cheremenets tourist base.

Cheremenets Lake, with an area of ​​15.5 square kilometers and a maximum width of 1900 meters, has an elongated shape from north to south. Its greatest depth is 32 meters. The lowering of the bottom goes in an easterly direction. Along the western shore, where health resorts are located, the lake is shallow, with a white sandy bottom and clear clear water (the bottom can be seen up to four meters). The water near the coast and in the upper layers warms up well in the summer, and swimming here is a great pleasure.

According to long-term observations, the water temperature on the Cheremenets and Samrov lakes, in the Luga, Oredezh and Saba rivers rises from 8-10 degrees to 17-18 degrees from May to August (see table below). But as the depth increases, the water temperature drops sharply. It should be borne in mind that for some lovers of diving into the depths, such a temperature difference causes convulsions.

Water temperature in lakes and rivers of the Luga region

Names of lakes and rivers	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November
Cheremenets	2.8	8.7	15.5	19.3	18.6	14.2	7.3	1.9
Samro	1.6	8.6	15. 5	18.3	16.9	12.0	5.1	0.9
River Luga	3.0	8.6	17.3	19.8	18.4	13.5	6.4	2.3
Oredezh River	2.7	10.6	16.6	19.8	17.9	12.5	5.6	1.6
Saba River	4.4	11.8	17.2	20.0	18.2	12.9	4.3	2.1

The low temperature of the water at depth is created by the springs that beat from the bottom of the lakes. These keys basically replenish water supplies. Cheremenets Lake is a flowing one, in the southern part the Kuksa River (now a small stream) flows into it, flowing from Borkovsky Lake, and the Bystritsa River, about six kilometers long, connecting Cheremenets Lake with Vrevskoye.

In the north, the Rapotka River flows out of Cheremenets Lake, flows into Lake Toloni and joins the Luga River through the Vrevka River. Lake Toloni is small, its length is 4 kilometers, its width is about two hundred meters, the greatest depth is 5-6 meters. Wonderful sandy shores of the lake and pine forests are used by both local residents and vacationers of the boarding houses «Green Forest» and the name of Vorovsky.

Spring flood in the rivers of the Luga region usually occurs in the second decade of April and is characterized by a sharp rise in water. The amplitude of water fluctuations in the Luga River during this period ranges from 2.7 to 7.1 meters. During the period of high floods, the waters of the Luga River rush into the Vrevka River (a tributary of the Luga), and the Vrevka flows in the opposite direction. The flood recession passes slowly — up to 20-30 days.

Spring opening of lakes is about two weeks later than rivers, and lakes freeze 7-10 days earlier than rivers.

The river Luga flows from the southeast to the northwest of the district. It originates in the southern part of the Netyl swamps, about forty kilometers from Novgorod, and flows into the Luga Bay of the Gulf of Finland. This is the largest river in the Leningrad region: its length is 359 kilometers, and from the mouth to the city of Luga is 222 kilometers.

The depth of the Luga is not constant due to sediments and variability of the bed, the width of the drain is 20-30 meters, the flow speed is on average 0.15-0.25 meters per second.

From the bottom of the river there are a lot of cold springs, according to the local expression — kituns. The largest tributaries of the Luga within the region are: Oredezh — 201 kilometers, Saba — 80 kilometers, Yazchera — 78 kilometers, Obla — 35 kilometers, Kemka — 29 kilometers. The Verduga and Pahuba rivers flow into the Plyussa.

Groundwater at a given depth of study is not opened. In an unfavorable period (spring snowmelt, autumn lingering rains), perched water may develop, confined to bulk soil and the soil-vegetative layer.

The regime of groundwater in natural and slightly disturbed conditions is determined, as a rule, by seasonal climatic changes.

Soil cover

Soddy-podzolic, medium podzolic and slightly podzolic soils prevail in the area.

Vegetation cover

Luga region belongs to the subzone of mixed forests in the southern part of the taiga. More than half of the territory is occupied by forests, 15 percent by swamps and about four percent by water bodies. In the west of the district, pine forests with an admixture of birch predominate. In the eastern direction, from the village of Sabitsy to Voloshov, there are landscapes of dry pine lichen forests and black alder swamps. In the middle reaches of the Luga River, near the village of Zhelezo, botanically valuable species of coniferous and deciduous trees grow. Primary pine forests have been preserved in the western part of the Luga region and in the vicinity of Luga.

Fauna

The species composition of fauna in the Leningrad Region is diverse. Animal world of the Luga region. It is represented by 59 species of mammals, of which 22 are of commercial importance, and 250 species of bird. , otter, muskrat, mink, Ussuri raccoon, capercaillie, black grouse, hazel grouse, geese, ducks, ptarmigan, woodcock, snipe, great snipe, curlew and other wader breeds, marsh partridge-dergach, bittern, weasel. Storks, cranes and herons are rare. There are many woodpeckers, crossbills, nuthatches, cuckoos, magpies, tits, thrushes, siskins, finches, bullfinches, orioles and even nightingales in the forests. From predatory there are hawks, owls, eagle owls.

However, the site of the planned activity is located in the vicinity of the city of Luga, in this regard, the species composition of the fauna at the design site is typical for urbanized areas and is extremely poor. The fauna of the survey site and adjacent territories is of a typical synanthropic nature. Animals have largely adapted to a variety of disturbance factors (noise — due to the constant noise impact of vehicles, disturbance by humans and pets).

In the survey area, according to general quantitative characteristics, soil dwellers (earthworms, oligochaetes, free-living soil nematodes, small arthropods, soil insect larvae, various types of beetles) are in the first place.

The species composition of the avifauna is mainly represented by the families of pigeons, corvids and passerines — gray crow ( Corvus cornix ), house sparrow ( Passer domesticus ), gray dove ( Columbidae livia ), etc.

0009 Specially protected natural areas.

Existing Specially Protected Natural Areas:

Bely Kamen, nature reserve

Luzhsky district, 6 km southeast of Oredezh village, on the border with Novgorod region

Regional complex nature reserve. Preservation of the swamp ecosystem, typical for the south of the Leningrad region, protection and reproduction of upland game.

Glebovskoye swamp, nature reserve

Gatchinsky, Luzhsky and Tosnensky districts, between the settlements of Porozhek, Dubovik and Konechki

Regional hydrological reserve. Preservation of a large bog massif typical of the North-West, which plays a significant role in maintaining the hydrological regime of the Oredezh and Tosno rivers.

Mshinskoe swamp, reserve

Luzhsky and Gatchinsky districts, between the settlements of Dvinskaya, Chascha, Torkovichi, Mshinskaya

Federal complex reserve. It is part of the wetland of international importance «Mshinskaya bog system». Protection of the natural complex of one of the largest swamps in the region, on which

there are 7 lakes (of which the largest are Vyalia and Strechno) and 8 rivers originate.

North of the Mshinsky swamp, nature reserve

Gatchinsky and Luga districts, 6 km east of Druzhnaya Gorka or 1 km to the west from Novinka village

Regional hydrological reserve. Included in the wetland of international importance «Mshinskaya swamp system» Preservation of water bodies and ecosystems that ensure optimal hydrological balance, protection and reproduction of upland game.

Syabersky, reserve

Luzhsky district, 35 km to the west of the city of Luga

Complex regional reserve. Preservation of the kame landscape, lake-river network, lowland swamps, rare plant species, habitats of large animals.

Cheremenetsky, reserve

Luzhsky district, 8 km south-east of the city of Luga. Regional landscape reserve. Preservation of ancient pre-glacial lakes with coniferous-broad-leaved forests surrounding them, natural complexes of large spring lakes of Cheremenetsky and Vrevo.

Shalovo-Perechetsky, nature reserve

Luzhsky district, 2 km north-east of the town of Luga. Includes two sections, one — to the north, the second — to the south of the city of Luga

Preservation of the landscape of the middle reaches of the Luga River with glacial landforms, pine forests, fragments of broad-leaved forests and rare southern pine forest species.

Outcrops on the Saba River, a natural monument

Luzhsky district, 3 km south of the Osmino village, near the village of Psoyed

Geological natural monument. The territory was declared a natural monument in order to protect the outcrops of geological rocks of the Devonian and Ordovician ages, to preserve the fossil remains of armored fish in the Devonian deposits.

Outcrops near the village of Borshchevo, natural monument

Luzhsky district, between the village. Torkovichi and railway station Oredezh

Geological monument of nature. The territory was declared a natural monument in order to preserve the outcrops of Devonian geological rocks and the remains of old adits.

Outcrops near the village of Yam-Tesovo, a natural monument Yam-Tesovo

Geological monument of nature. The territory was declared a natural monument in order to protect one of the key outcrops for the North-Western region of Russia on the day surface of geological rocks of the Devonian age and

remnants of old adits.

Mshinskaya swamp system

Luzhsky and Gatchinsky districts, between the settlements of Rakitino, Novinka, Chascha, Cholovo, Torkovichi, Petrushina Gora, Bolshoye Zamoshye, Pehenets, Cherentsovo, Staroe swamp

Wetland of international importance. Created on the basis of the Mshinskoye Boloto federal complex reserve and the Mshinskoye Bog North regional hydrological reserve

Designed and proposed protected areas, as well as other objects of nature-oriented tourism:

Korpovskie caves

Luzhsky district, Korpovo village, 2 km from the confluence of the Ognivka and Obla rivers, slope of the Obla river

Place of extraction of quartz sand for the glass industry. A hiding place for partisans during the Civil War and WWII. Picturesque relief, traces of glacier activity, Linden Mountains.

River basin Kemka (Sredneluzhsky)

Luzhsky district, the vicinity of the railway station Tolmachevo and Mshinskaya, on the right bank of the Luga River, as well as in the vicinity of the village. Iron on the Left Bank Luga

A regional complex sanctuary planned for organization before 2010 in order to preserve the basin of the river. Kemka, lake-river network, as well as mixed spruce-deciduous forests with linden, elm, maple; pine forests and grass spruce forests.

Priluzhsky

Luzhsky district, between the villages of Krasnye Gory and Tverdyat

A regional complex reserve planned for organization in order to preserve the ecosystems of the swamps and the coastal zone of the Luga River, as well as rare species of plants and animals.

Mount Krutukha near Lake Beloe

Luga District, 2 km south of the village of Pozharishche, on the eastern shore of Lake Beloe. It consists of two plots separated by state farm fields: Mount Krutukha and raised bog.

A complex nature monument proposed for organization in order to preserve areas of coniferous-deciduous forests, meadow areas, swamps, ancient burial sites, as well as rare species of plants and animals.

Lake Omchino

Luzhsky district, on the southwestern outskirts of the city of Luga. The territory includes artificial lakes Omchino and Shtolevo and a water protection zone around them

A complex natural monument to be organized in order to preserve the water system formed as a result of the construction of the dam; adjacent wetlands, forests with rare plant species.

Springs r. Naplotinka

Luzhsky district, Luga city

The medicinal water of the springs was used in the boarding house «Sokolnitsky Klyuchi», which existed in the early 19th century, where the production of mineral water «Luga-dar» was established.

Sapropel mud

Luga district,

Turovskoe, Nelayskoe and Zaklinskoe lakes.

The climate of the Luga region

The climate of Luga is temperate continental. The flow of solar heat throughout the year is uneven, due to large changes in the height of the sun above the horizon and the length of the day. The average annual air temperature is + 5.7 degrees. The average July temperature is + 17.9 degrees, the average January temperature is 6.7 degrees. Absolute minimum temperature -39degrees, the absolute maximum is +39 degrees. The average annual rainfall is 594 mm. Precipitation during the year falls unevenly, most of it falls in the warm period and mainly in the summer season. The highest amount of precipitation, 20 — 24 mm, usually occurs in July. However, in the winter months (December — March) they fall only 100 mm. The soil freezes to a depth of 6 to 78 cm.

Western and southwestern winds prevail in Luga. They blow mainly in the cold season. From May to September, the direction of the winds changes to south and southeast. Average monthly wind speeds in summer are 2.5 — 3.5 m/s. Relative air humidity in autumn is 68-87 percent.

The duration of the unfavorable period in the survey area is 6.5 months, from October 20 to May 05.

Luga region has a moderately humid climate. During the summer months, the relative humidity is around 60 percent. The most rainy is August, when the amount of precipitation reaches 81 centimeters. But due to the high air temperature, the short duration of rains and sandy soil, moisture does not linger for a long time. On the streets

you rarely see puddles; and if they appear after a big rain, they quickly disappear.

The highest air humidity is observed at night and in the morning near water bodies, and the lowest — at 2-3 o’clock in the afternoon. Even in hot weather you don’t feel stuffy here.

Characteristics of the relative air humidity in Luga and Sestroretsk, another resort center of the Leningrad Region, located on the Karelian Isthmus, are indicative.

Relative humidity at 1 pm (monthly average)

	April	May	June	July	August	September	October
Meadows	60	51	56	61	64	68	78
Sestroretsk	71	62	66	63	69	73	79. 1

As can be seen from the table, the relative air humidity in the Luga region is lower than in Sestroretsk.

The average annual air temperature in Luga is 4.0 degrees Celsius, in July the average daily temperature is 17.4 degrees. Sanatoriums and rest houses located near water basins are protected by forests from the north and northeast winds. Therefore, it creates its own microclimate, favorable for health. For example, on the territory of the Krasny Val sanatorium, the average annual temperature is almost two degrees higher than in the surrounding area.

It is known that the climatic conditions of a region are affected by solar radiation. From March to October in the Luga region clear weather prevails over cloudy. The average annual duration of sunshine is 1746 hours (in the Leningrad resort area 1628 hours, in Kislovodsk — about 2000 hours).

What makes up the climate of the Luga region? It is determined by the air masses coming from the Atlantic Ocean, the regions of the Arctic and the southeast of the European part of the country. Western and southwestern winds prevail in Luga and its environs. They blow mainly in the cold season. From May to September, the direction of the winds changes to south and southeast. In total, an average of 13-14 days is accumulated per year, when the winds reach fifteen meters per second (mostly in September, December and January).

The first half of winter is relatively mild. The average temperature in December is 6 degrees below zero, and the number of days with a thaw reaches ten.

The coldest months should be considered January and February with an average temperature of 8 degrees below zero.

The first snow usually falls in the first decade of November, but after 2-3 days it melts. The highest snow cover occurs in late February and early March.

Frost-free period per year — 135 days; the average date of the first frost is 27 September and the last one is 12 May.

The average annual rainfall is 594 mm. However, in the winter months (December — March), only 100 millimeters fall. The soil freezes to a depth of 6 to 78 centimeters.

Spring starts relatively early in the region. Already in mid-March, the arrival of birds is observed, and in the last days of the month you can hear the first song of the lark.

The average daily temperature in early April changes from minus to plus. By the middle of the month, the snow cover finally disappears. Flowers appear: coltsfoot, sleep-grass, woodland, anemone.

The temperature regime in spring is unstable. In May and even in June there are cold nights with frosts. This weather change is explained by the intrusion of arctic air masses.

The warmest month of the year is July; its average temperature is +17.4°. The passage of masses of tropical air sometimes raises the temperature at noon to 30-33 degrees. The second half of summer is wet. At this time, a lot of precipitation falls — up to 224 millimeters.

The temperature regime in September is the same as in May, only it changes in the reverse order — from warm to cold. The first half of this month is actually a continuation of summer. At this time, warm, clear and dry days come, the so-called «Indian summer», which lasts up to two weeks. Relative air humidity in autumn is 68-87 percent.

The rugged terrain also affects the weather. In higher places, for example, more precipitation falls, and snow lingers longer in forests (see table on page 161).

Some climatic data for the Luga region (long-term averages)

Spring	March	April	May
Atmospheric pressure (mm)	750	751	752
Air temperature (degree C)	-4.1	3.6	10.5
Rainfall (mm)	30	32	47
Relative humidity at 13:00 (%)	67	60	51
Continued sunshine (hours)	148	181	262
Number of days without sun	8	5	2

Summer	June	July	August
Atmospheric pressure (mm)	750	749	749
Air temperature (degree C)	14. 9	17.4	15.3
Rainfall (mm)	68	75	81
Relative humidity at 13:00 (%)	56	61	64
Continued sunshine (hours)	291	287	239
Number of days without sun	1	1	2

Autumn	Sept.	Oct.	Nov.
Atmospheric pressure (mm)	751	751	751
Air temperature (degree C)	10. 1	4.2	-1
Rainfall (mm)	65	51	44
Relative humidity at 13:00 (%)	68	78	87
Continued sunshine (hours)	147	70	26
Number of days without sun	4	12	21

Winter	Dec.	Jan.	Feb.
Atmospheric pressure (mm)	751	751	751
Air temperature (degree C)	-5. 9	-8.3	-8.1
Rainfall (mm)	38	33m	30
Relative humidity at 13:00 (%)	88	86	81
Continued sunshine (hours)	20	27	48
Number of days without sun	24	21	15

Reference information on this page is presented according to the legendary guide — the book “Meadows. Guide” Author — V.I. Zertsalov Leningrad, «Lenizdat», 1972….view the electronic version of the book

Date edited: 21-07-2022 at 13:20 Editor Glukhov S V

How does global warming change the nature of the Siberian taiga?

Aleksey Medvedkov,
Candidate of Geographical Sciences, Moscow State University
Priroda No. 12, 2016

The Siberian taiga is a vast array of untouched landscapes, the largest core of our country’s ecological framework. Central Siberia is only marginally developed and less populated than neighboring territories. The main factor influencing the functioning of the local natural systems and the way of life of people is the climate. It is these regions that are especially important for studying the consequences of global climate change.

As you know, a significant part of Siberian forests is located in the permafrost zone. In the south of the Central Siberian permafrost zone, the so-called high-temperature permafrost is widespread, its distribution is discontinuous, its thickness is small (up to 25–30 m), and in some places only individual spots (islands) have survived from a continuous field of frozen ground. This transitional zone is a planetary ecotone, the so-called landscape-geocryological boundary, its relief and vegetation are unusually mosaic, it is easiest to record the responses of nature to various climatic events here.

The Middle Yenisei region, located in the middle taiga subzone in the middle reaches of the Yenisei, became a testing ground for studying the changes taking place in the landscapes of Central Siberia. The boundary of the river basin on the West Siberian Plain is taken as the western regional boundary, and the zonal boundary of the middle taiga landscapes on the western outskirts of the Central Siberian Plateau is taken as the eastern regional boundary. The key areas of the polygon were selected within different morphostructural parts of the Central Yenisei region: the eastern outskirts of the West Siberian Plain, the north of the Yenisei Ridge and the west of the Central Siberian Plateau.

From the middle of the twentieth century. Numerous geological expeditions worked here. In the 70s, the study of the landscapes of the region was carried out in order to clarify the results of geological mapping [1]. In the 1990s, research began on the current state of landscapes of the permafrost ecotone, organized by S. P. Gorshkov, professor of the Faculty of Geography of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov. Experience has been gained in diagnosing permafrost and non-permafrost landscapes ^* [2]. After a short break, since the beginning of the 2000s, almost annual landscape and geoecological studies have been organized in the Middle Yenisei region, devoted to assessing the state of the middle taiga geosystems under the conditions of modern changes in the natural environment and climate.

Warming in the Middle Yenisei region has been recorded since the early 1980s. According to the weather stations Turukhansk (northern taiga), Bor, Kuzmovka (middle taiga) and Yeniseisk (southern taiga), the average annual temperature has already risen by at least 1-2°C. The analysis of averaged data shows that cold years are determined by low temperatures in the period from October to April. The reason for warm years also lies in the high temperatures in winter, and its duration in such years is noticeably reduced. So, at 19On 1974, in Bor, the average January temperature dropped below -35°C, in 1995 it was -17.8°C, and in April it was already positive.

Within the boundaries of the selected polygon, permafrost, predominantly high-temperature (−1°C and above), is developed on low peaks and gentle slopes, on areas composed of clays and loams, with individual boulders, as well as on silty-fine sandy deposits of the glacial complex. Usually such places are waterlogged, there is a low-growing sparse cedar-spruce and cedar-spruce-larch taiga, often with an admixture of birch, on peaty-gley permafrost soil with moss-shrub and in some places lichen ground cover.

Cryogenic landscapes are characterized by solifluction — viscoplastic sliding of heavy, water-saturated soil along a frozen inclined surface. At the same time, peculiar influxes and terraces are formed even in areas covered with forest. Trees sliding along with the ground bend and twist. According to their trunks, it is not difficult to assess the severity of solifluction: if the tops of inclined trees rise vertically upwards, this indicates a weakening or cessation of the soil flow. Also, the intensity of solifluction can be determined by looking into characteristic discontinuity windows (discontinuity pits). Their diameter is usually 1.0–1.5 m, and the depth is 0.5–0.7 m. If at the end of summer the hole is filled with ice (literally) water, then the frozen aquiclude is relatively stable, and the ground continues. If there is no water, and the hole gradually overgrows, then the permafrost degradation has begun, entailing a weakening of solifluction. The decrease in the activity of solifluction processes is also evidenced by the so-called landslides-slides on the slopes along the banks of the rivers. They are formed during intensive permafrost retreat, when coastal massifs lose their stability and begin to deform.

Since the mid-1990s in the Middle Yenisei region, as a result of permafrost warming up to 0°C, an active process of permafrost degradation has begun. Its roof went deep on average by 1.5–2 m (or more in some places). This immediately affected the appearance of permafrost landscapes. Water disappeared in the solifluction pits-discontinuities. Trees with a creeping root system (birch and some conifers) lost their support in the form of a solid frozen substrate and began to fall. Accumulations of fallen trunks with twisted roots have led to the ubiquitous distribution in the landscapes of the island permafrost subzone of a specific relief of biogenic origin.

Even more clearly than within the permafrost woodlands, the permafrost retreat is noticeable at the base of the kurums [3, 4]. This is the name given to coarse clastic formations of rocks, the collapse of boulders on slopes, which often occupy considerable areas. They are widespread on the right bank of the Yenisei: within the Central Siberian Plateau and the Yenisei Ridge. Changes are primarily noticeable on the slopes of the southern and western exposures: bald ice melted between the blocks, as a result they sank, lost stability, in some places depressions up to 1 m deep were formed and subsurface cold streams disappeared. Kurums began to overgrow, a moss-lichen cover appeared, shrubs and in some places even trees. In the lower reaches of the Podkamennaya Tunguska, unforested kurums have lost their bald ice even on expositionally cold slopes. There are many thawed kurums in the northern part of the Yenisei Ridge and in the west of the Central Siberian Plateau up to the channel of the Lower Tunguska. Their belt rises on average to an absolute height of 400 m [5].

It can be assumed that negative feedback reactions develop in the kurums of the middle taiga subzone under conditions of climate warming [3, 4]. At the first stage, the bald ice melts, and the kurum begins to gradually overgrow. Fine earth accumulates, filling the niches between the blocks. This is how the soil profile of the brown taiga skeletal soil is formed. It is interesting that the accumulation of fine earth and the rate of overgrowth of kurum increase in places where black scale lichens are concentrated. Solifluction also plays a role in the evolution of the soil cover of kurums, which locally increases the thickness of the peat-vegetation layer and the amount of fine earth. As a result, in some areas, the depth of the soil profile reaches 25–30 cm. Apparently, with an increase in the average annual air temperature, the activity of microorganisms also increases, which contributes to biogeochemical weathering and the enrichment of fine earth with organic matter. Soon, the brown-taiga skeletal soil turns into peaty brown-taiga soil, its thickness increases, the watering of the kurum and its isolation from the lower air layer increase. At the next stage, the formation of «hanging» peat bogs occurs ^** and local aggradation, i.e. re-development of permafrost.

Local residents reported interesting information about the changes taking place in nature. It must be said that in the middle and lower reaches of the Yenisei and in the lower reaches of the Podkamennaya Tunguska live Kets — one of the smallest peoples of Siberia and the Far East. This is a unique ethnic group: the Ket language is considered the last surviving representative of the Yenisei language family. The Kets are mainly engaged in hunting and fishing (their subsidiary farming is poorly developed), they live off the «feeding» landscape, so any changes in it are immediately reflected in their usual way of life [6].

Thus, according to local residents, the habitat of ticks ( Ixodes persulcatus ) has increased over the past 25 years. It expanded 250 km to the north, capturing the middle taiga subzone. Now ticks are found already at a latitude of 63 °. They have become especially active in the last 10 years. The abundance of ticks especially harms people living in the south of Turukhansky and the south-west of the Evenki district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Here, residents began to apply to medical institutions more often with requests for vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis.

According to the entomologist A.V. Kuvaev, many insects of the forest-steppe and southern taiga are found and described in the lower reaches of the Podkamennaya Tunguska and the middle reaches of the Yenisei, i. e. in the conditions of the middle taiga.

In the third quarter of the 20th century, during the period with stable cold winters, there were practically no vipers ( Vipera berus ) in the Middle Yenisei region. People started talking about their expansion after the abnormally warm years of the second half of the 1990s. During this period, there was a widespread thawing of bald ice in kurums. Today, vipers have firmly chosen the thawed kurums.
Late spring frosts and loss of underground moisture resources at the base of the kurums led to the fact that their permanent inhabitant, the pika ( Ochotona ), which plays an important role in the nutrition of sables, leaves them [7]. Sable, in turn, is a valuable commercial object for local hunters.

Climate warming in continental regions leads to an increase in the contrast of weather conditions. Weather and climate anomalies are intensifying. Warm winters are becoming more frequent, and spring and autumn are unusually long. All this hit hard on the food resources of the taiga.

Severe frosts, which increasingly occur during the flowering period, reduce the productivity of taiga berries. But lingonberries, blueberries, red currants and other berries play an important role in the diet of many representatives of the animal world. So, in 1997 and 1998. in the Central Siberian Reserve (one of the largest reserves on the planet, whose territory is comparable in area to Lebanon or Jamaica), blueberries, blueberries, lingonberries, honeysuckle, red and black currants were almost completely absent. Meager harvests of these berries were noted in 1999 They are small even today. Residents say that in the last 15–20 years there have been a lot of “sick” (rotten), crumbling berries.

In the modern era, cold or very humid, and in some years, dry summer seasons have become more frequent. Such weather adversely affects the productivity of berry growers. Using the example of lingonberries, a relationship has been established between the growth of berries and the weight of leaves in different types of summer [8]. In warm and moderately humid summers, the weight of the leaves is minimal, this is due to the outflow of the substance into the growing fruits. In the case of a cold summer, on the contrary, the weight of the leaves increases — there is no outflow of substances and few fruits are set. Does not contribute to the formation of berries and dry or very humid summers.

Despite the widespread presence of cedar pine in the dark coniferous taiga, people note that in years with cool summers and warm winters, few places can find nuts.

In winter thaws, due to excessive humidity, the cones on the fir trees swell and seeds fall out of them. This is how valuable food for squirrels, chipmunks and birds is lost. According to local hunters, low yields of berries and birch seeds have led to a decrease in the black grouse population. Over the past 15 years, these birds have changed the structure of their diet. Now the black grouse eats young shoots and buds of trees and shrubs, as well as seeds of coniferous trees [9]. The number of capercaillie and hazel grouse has decreased. Taiga hunters see one of the reasons for this in the increase in the number of birds of prey, which over the past 10–15 years have begun to more actively penetrate into the taiga from more southern regions.

In the summer of 2009, there was a massive release of pollen from conifers (mainly Scotch pine). At this time, our expeditionary group was moving in boats down the Podkamennaya Tunguska from the village. Kuzmovka to the village. Sulomai (Evenki municipal district). We saw how, throughout this section, the water in the river turned bright yellow. Residents of Kuzmovka reported that the water is saturated with pollen and upstream from the village, and in general, the emission zone (only recorded) stretches for more than 230 km. The reason for this anomaly was the heavy rainfall that fell at the beginning of summer. Rainwater quickly wets the pollen particles and drags them down. Massive releases of pine pollen usually occur during too warm and rainy weather [10]. It has not yet been established how this phenomenon affects seed yields. It is only known that the shift in the timing of the development of male generative organs in Siberian larch and Scots pine in a warm autumn-winter period leads to the formation of sterile pollen and a low yield of cones and seeds [11].

Numerous unfavorable phenomena observed in nature in years with extreme weather conditions, the northern ecologist and ethnographer I. I. Krupnik called «life crises» [12]. Today, in the Middle Yenisei region, they are marked much more often than, say, 20 years ago.

In the next few decades, humanity will not be able to stop climate change. Therefore, our task is to learn to anticipate future negative events and adapt to their consequences. The processes taking place today on the southern periphery of the boreal cryolithozone may eventually be repeated over a much larger area. Changes in the Siberian permafrost landscapes are just beginning.

This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project 16-35-00327-mol-a) and the Council for Grants of the President of the Russian Federation (project MK-7614. 2015.5).

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^* The permafrost landscape is a natural complex, the leading forming factor of which is cryogenesis. It determines the specifics of soil formation and the special structure of the vegetation cover.

^** «Hanging» swamps are located mainly on steep riverine, expositionally cold slopes. Under the peat bog in each swamp there is a kurum. The frozen layer is hidden by a ground cover consisting of mosses, lichens and shrubs with an abundance of wild rosemary and dwarf birch.

Literature
1. Astakhov V. I., Gerasimov L. M., Eromenko V. Yu. et al. A complex of remote methods for geological mapping of taiga regions (on the example of the Yenisei Siberia). L., 1978.
2. Gorshkov S.P., Karrash Kh., Paramonov A.V. Geomorphological indication of permafrost and non-permafrost landscapes of the middle taiga of Central Siberia // Geomorphology. 1998. No. 4. S. 55–61.
3. Medvedkov AA Geoecological response of the middle taiga landscapes of the Yenisei Siberia to climate warming in the late 20th — early 21st centuries // Geoecology. Engineering geology. Hydrogeology. Geocryology. 2014. No. 6. S. 513–524.
4. Medvedkov A. A. Geoenvironmental Response of the Yenisei Siberia Mid-Taiga Landscapes to Global Warming during Late XX-Early XXI Centuries // Water Resources . 2015. No. 7. V. 42. P. 922–931.
5. Medvedkov AA Middle taiga geosystems of the Yenisei Siberia in a changing climate. M., 2016.
6. Medvedkov A. A. The Ket ethnic group in the era of globalization and a changing climate // Geography at school. 2013. No. 2. S. 29–35.
7. Medvedkov A. A. The Kets ethnos and its «feeding landscape»: ecological-geographical and socio-ecological problems under globalization and changing climate // Geography, Environment, Sustainability. 2013. No. 3. P. 108–118.
8. Elagin I. N. The seasons in the forests of Russia. Novosibirsk, 1994.
9. Gorshkov S.P. Ecological shock in Central Siberia: causes and consequences // Geography. 2008. No. 4. S. 3–7.
10. Weather atlas: atmospheric phenomena and forecasts. SPb., 2010.
11. Noskova N. E., Romanova L. I. Structural and functional properties of male generative organs in Siberian larch and Scots pine under conditions of climate change in Siberia // Bulletin of the Krasnoyarsk State Agrarian University. 2013. No. 7. S. 175–180.
12. Krupnik I.I. Arctic ethnoecology. M., 1989.

Tomsk Region / Legislative Duma of the Tomsk Region

Status: subject of the Russian Federation, part of the Siberian Federal District.

Date of formation: August 13, 1944

Acting Governor of the Tomsk Region: Mazur Vladimir Vladimirovich (since 2022).

Chairman of the Legislative Duma of the Tomsk Region: Kozlovskaya Oksana Vitalievna (since 2011).

Regional center: city of Tomsk — 56°30′ N, 84°58′ E Tomsk» — more than 500 thousand people, the distance to Moscow by rail — 3500 km. Founded in 1604

Acting Mayor of the City of Tomsk: Mikhail Ratner (since 2020).

Chairman of the Duma of the city of Tomsk: Akataev Chingis Mametovich (since 2020).

In Tomsk…

• The first university in the Asian part of Russia and the first technological institute were founded
• The first power plant in Siberia and the first television station were built
• The first public library in Siberia and the Botanical Garden were opened
• The first symphony orchestra in Siberia was founded
• The first Technopark in the USSR and the first student business incubator in Russia were opened
• Russia’s first regional innovation strategy approved
• The first innovation forum in Russia has started

Administrative-territorial division : the Tomsk region includes 4 urban districts (Tomsk, Strezhevoy, Kedrovy, closed administrative-territorial formation (ZATO) Seversk), 16 municipalities (districts), including 3 urban and 115 rural settlements, 578 rural settlements.

Area : 314.4 thousand km2 (1.8% of the territory of the Russian Federation). The length of the region from north to south is about 600 km, from west to east — 780 km.

Population : the population was 1078.9 thousand people (0.7% of the population of Russia), of which about 72% are urban population.

More than 120 nationalities live on the territory of the Tomsk region, including about 3.5 thousand indigenous peoples, which include the Khanty, Selkups, Evenks, Chulyms and Kets.

Population density: 3.4 people per 1 km2.

Average age of the population: 38 years.

Climate : almost the entire territory of the Tomsk region lies within the taiga zone. The climate is temperate continental cyclic, characterized by significant daily and annual amplitudes, a longer winter period. The average annual temperature is + 1.75 °С, the average temperature in July is + 17 °С, the average temperature in January is -19-21 °С. The frost-free period is 100–105 days. Precipitation — 435 mm.

The climatic conditions of the southern and northern regions of the Tomsk region are noticeably different due to the fact that the distance between the northern and southern borders of the region along the meridian reaches 600 kilometers. The climatic characteristics of the northern regions of the region are more severe and the duration of the winter season.

The highest point of the Tomsk region is 274 m above sea level, the lowest point is 34 m above sea level.

The terrain is represented mainly by flat marshy plains. The Ob River in its middle course divides the Tomsk region into almost two equal parts, crossing it from the southeast to the northwest. The elevated right bank is less waterlogged and is better populated. The river valleys account for 1/5 of the territory of the Tomsk region.

Main natural zones: middle taiga, southern taiga and forest-steppe zone.

Natural resources . Most of the territory of the Tomsk region is lands of the forest fund. Forests are one of the region’s most significant assets: about 20% (more than 28.8 million hectares) of Western Siberia’s forest resources are located in the Tomsk region. The area of ​​the territory occupied by coniferous species is more than 10 million hectares. The total stock of wood of the main forest-forming species is 2850.3 million m3. Forests occupy more than 61% of the region’s territory. Most of the forest fund is commercial forests. Half of the operational wood reserves are coniferous species, of which the most valuable are cedar, spruce, fir, pine, and larch.

The Tomsk Region has significant mineral reserves and resources.

To date, 133 hydrocarbon deposits have been discovered in the Tomsk region, including 104 oil, 21 oil and gas condensate and 8 gas condensate fields.

Oil and gas resources amount to 2.45 billion tons, including reserves of industrial categories — 804.3 million tons.

The predicted resources of iron ore are 393 billion tons.

The Tugan deposit of ilmenite-zircon sands (40 km from Tomsk) contains 30% of the all-Russian reserves of titanium dioxide and a significant part of zirconium.

In terms of peat reserves, which amount to 29 billion tons, the Tomsk region ranks second in Russia.

The Tomsk region also has significant reserves of refractory clays, glass sands, fresh and mineral underground waters. Manifestations of gold and zinc were found.

Transport . Intra-regional transportation of goods is carried out by air, road, rail and water transport.

International airports — 1

Domestic airports — 2

Runways — 15

Helipads and heliports — 68

Air freight share — 0.03%

Number of international routes (charter flights) — 3(4)

Number of interregional routes , – 18

of which subsidized from the federal and regional budgets – 8

Number of intra-regional routes, – 2

of which subsidized from the regional budget – 1

Share of passenger transportation by air – 0. 5%.

The length of inland navigation routes along the river basin. Ob and its tributaries is more than 5 thousand km. More than half of the 700 settlements of the Tomsk region are served by water transport, mass delivery of goods to the Northern regions, as well as the export of timber cargo and mineral construction materials.

Length of public roads 11,007 km. Of these: regional — 4,136 km. (3 390 km. — with a hard surface), municipal — 6,836 km. (4,068 km. — with a hard surface). The density of communication lines is 20 km. tracks per 1000 km2 of territory. The number of bridges in the road sector of the Tomsk region — 197 pcs.

Currently, the length of railways in the region is 346 km. The main highway is Bely Yar-Tomsk-Taiga. Trains depart from Tomsk railway stations on six railway routes. By direct trains you can get to five terminal stations — from Adler to Vladivostok.

In November — March, ice crossings and the so-called «winter roads» (winter roads) are used to deliver goods to the northern regions of the Tomsk region.

Time zone : Tomsk region is in the time zone Krasnoyarsk time. The offset from UTC is +7:00. Relative to Moscow time, the time zone has a constant offset of +4 hours and is designated in Russia as MSK+4.

Telephone code: +7 382 2 (** ** **).

Communication : digitalization of the public telephone network of the Tomsk region is 97.45% (urban telephone connection — 100%, rural telephone connection — 90.35%). All cities and regional centers of the Tomsk region are interconnected by modern fiber-optic communication lines, and the city of Strezhevoy and the village of Aleksandrovo are connected by a modern digital radio-relay communication line.

Broadband access services are provided in 191 settlements of the Tomsk region. The installed capacity of subscriber broadband access ports is 248,178 units.

Communication services in the Tomsk region are provided by more than 200 telecom operators, including five cellular operators: OJSC Megafon, OJSC VimpelCom, OJSC MTS, LLC T2 Mobile (TELE2) and OJSC Rostelecom .

More than 15 stationary Multifunctional Centers (MFCs) operate in the Tomsk Region, providing the population with the opportunity to receive all state and municipal services on a one-stop basis, which makes it possible to cover more than 91% of the region’s population, while the government requires 90%.

Mains voltage: 220 V, 50 Hz.

Physical geography — Western Siberia (West Siberian Plain)

1. Geographical location.

2. Geological structure and relief.

3. Climate.

4. Inland waters.

5. Soil and vegetation cover and fauna.

6. Natural areas.

Geographical position

The border of the West Siberian Plain is clearly expressed in the relief. Its boundaries in the West are the Ural Mountains, in the east the Yenisei Ridge and the Central Siberian Plateau. In the north, the plain is washed by the waters of the Kara Sea, the southern edge of the plain enters the territory of Kazakhstan, and the southeast borders on Altai. The area of ​​the plain is about 3 million km2. length from north to south is almost 2500 km, from west to east 1500-1900 km. The southern part of the plain is the most mastered by man, its nature has been changed to some extent. The northern and central part of the plain began to be developed in the last 30-50 years in connection with the development of oil and gas.

Geological structure and relief

The geological structure of the plain is determined by its position on the Paleozoic West Siberian plate. The foundation of the slab is a huge depression with steep sides. It consists of the Baikal, Caledonian and Hercynian blocks, broken by deep faults. In the north, the foundation lies to a depth of 8-12 km. (Yamalo-Tazovskaya syneclise), in the middle part the depth is 3-4 km. (Sredneobskaya anteclise), to the south, the depth of occurrence decreases. The cover of the plate is represented by Mesozoic and Cenozoic deposits of continental and marine origin.

The territory of the West Siberian plate has repeatedly been subjected to transgressions. The glaciation of Western Siberia was repeated many times: Demyanskoe, Samarovskoe, Tazovskoe, Zyryanskoe and Sartanskoe. Glaciers moved from 2 centers: from the Polar Urals and the Putorana plate. In contrast to the Russian Plain, where meltwater flowed to the south, in Western Siberia, which has a general slope to the north, these waters accumulated at the edge of the glacier, forming near-glacial reservoirs. In areas free of ice, there was a deep freezing of the soil.

The modern relief of the plain is determined by the geological structure and the influence of exogenous processes. The main orographic elements correspond to the tectonic structures of the plate, although the accumulation of Meso-Cenozoic strata has leveled the unevenness of the basement. The absolute heights of the plain are 100-150 meters, while within the plains alternating highlands and lowlands. The general slope of the plain is towards the north. Almost the entire northern half of the plain is less than 100 meters high. The marginal parts of the plain are raised up to 200-300 meters. These are the North Sosvinskaya, Verkhnetazovskaya, Lower Yenisei uplands, the Ob plateau, the Ishim and Kulunda plains. The Siberian Ridges are distinctly expressed in the middle part of the plain, extending from the Urals to the Yenisei near 63˚N, their average height is 100-150 meters. The lowest areas (50-100 m) are located in the northern parts of Western Siberia. These are Nizhneobskaya, Nadymskaya, Purskaya, Tazovskaya, Kondinskaya, Sredneobskaya lowlands. Western Siberia is characterized by: marine accumulative plains (on the Yamal and Gydan Peninsulas), glacial and water-glacial plains with moraine hills, ridges, etc. (central part of Western Siberia), alluvial lacustrine plains (valleys of large rivers), denudation plains (southern part of Western Siberia).

Climate

The climate of Western Siberia is continental, arctic and subarctic in the north and temperate in the rest of the territory. It is more severe than on the Russian Plain, but softer than in Eastern Siberia. Continentality increases towards the southeast of the plain. The radiation balance is from 15 to 40 kcal/cm2 per year. At the same time, in comparison with the Russian Plain, Western Siberia receives somewhat more solar radiation, due to the lower frequency of cyclones. The western transfer persists, but the influence of the Atlantic is noticeably weakened here. The flatness of the territory promotes deep meridional air exchange. In winter, the climate is formed under the influence of the spur of the Asian High, which stretches along the south of the plain and depression of low pressure over the northern peninsulas. This contributes to the removal of cold continental air from the Asian High to the plain. Winds are dominated by southerly directions. In general, January isotherms are submeridian, from -18˚-20˚С in the west to almost -30˚С in the Yenisei valley. The absolute minimum of Western Siberia is -55˚С. Snowstorms are typical in winter. During the cold period, 20-30% of precipitation falls. Snow cover is established in the north in September, in the south — in November and keeps from 9months in the north to 5 months in the south. The thickness of the snow cover in the forest zone is 50-60 cm, in the tundra and steppe 40-30 cm. In summer over Western Siberia, the pressure gradually decreases to the southeast. Winds prevail in a northerly direction. At the same time, the role of western transfer is enhanced. July isotherms take latitudinal directions. In the north of Yamal, the average July temperature is +4˚С, near the Arctic Circle +14˚С, in the south of the plain +22˚С. Absolute maximum +45˚С (extreme south). The warm period accounts for 70-80% of precipitation, especially in July-August. Droughts are possible in the south. The largest amount of precipitation per year (550-600 mm) falls in the middle reaches of the Ob from the Urals to the Yenisei. To the north and south, the amount of precipitation decreases to 350 mm. The climate of Western Siberia contributes in many respects to the maintenance of permafrost. The northern and central parts of Siberia (more than 80% of its area) have a moisture coefficient greater than 1 (excessive moisture). Such conditions lead to the development of swamping of the territory. In the south, the coefficient is less than 1 (insufficient moisture).

Inland waters

Western Siberia is characterized by a huge accumulation of inland waters. Several thousand rivers flow on the plain, most of which belong to the Ob basin and, accordingly, the Kara Sea. Few rivers (Taz, Pur, Nadym, etc.) flow directly into the Kara Sea. In the south of the plain there are areas of internal (closed) runoff. All rivers of Western Siberia are characterized by small slopes, with a predominance of lateral erosion. The food of the rivers is mixed, with a predominance of snow, in addition, there is rain and swamp-soil. High water runs from April in the south to June in the north. The rise of water reaches a maximum of 12 meters on the Ob, and 18 meters on the Yenisei. A protracted flood is characteristic, despite the “friendly” spring. The rise is fast, but the fall is very slow. Freeze lasts up to 5 months in the south and up to 8 months in the north. Ice jams are typical. The largest rivers are the Ob and Yenisei. The length of the Ob from the source of the Irtysh is 5410 km, and the basin area is 3 million km2. If we consider the Ob from the confluence of the Biya and Katun rivers, then its length is 3650 km. In terms of water content, the Ob is second only to the Yenisei and the Lena. The Ob flows into the Ob Bay (estuary). The largest tributary is the Irtysh, and its tributaries are the Ishim, Tobol, Konda. The Ob also has tributaries — Chulym, Ket, Vasyugan, etc. The Yenisei is the most abundant river in Russia, its length is 4092 km., basin area -2.5 million km2. Only a small left-bank part of the basin lies on the territory of Western Siberia. There are about 1 million lakes on the plain. The lake content varies from 1% in the south to 3% in the north. In the Surgut Lowland it reaches 20%. In the south, the lakes are brackish. The largest lake is Chany. It is dry and salty. The maximum depth is 10 m. Swamps occupy about 30% of the territory of Western Siberia. In some places in the forest zone, swampiness reaches 80% (forested swamp zone). The development of swamps is facilitated by: flat relief, poor drainage, excessive moisture, prolonged floods and permafrost. The swamps are rich in peat. According to hydrogeological conditions, the plain is the West Siberian artesian basin.

Land cover and wildlife

The soils are arranged as follows from north to south: tundra-gley, podzolic, soddy-podzolic, chernozems and chestnut soils. At the same time, large areas due to waterlogging are occupied by semi-hydromorphic soils. Therefore, most soils, in contrast to their analogues on the Russian Plain, have signs of gleying. Solonetzes and solods are found in the south. The vegetation of Western Siberia is to some extent similar to the vegetation of the Russian Plain, but there are differences that are associated with the wide distribution of swamps, the severity of the climate and the peculiarities of the flora. Along with spruce and pine forests, fir, cedar and larch forests are widespread. In the forest-tundra, larch dominates, and not spruce, as on the Russian Plain. Small-leaved forests here are not only secondary, but also indigenous. Mixed forests here are represented by pine-birch. Large areas in Western Siberia are occupied by floodplain vegetation (more than 4% of the plain area), as well as swamp vegetation. The animal world has many similarities with the Russian Plain. In Western Siberia, there are about 500 species of vertebrates, including 80 species of mammals, 350 species of birds, 7 species of amphibians and about 60 species of fish. A certain zonality is observed in the distribution of animals, but along the ribbon forests along the rivers, forest animals penetrate far to the north and south, and inhabitants of polar water bodies are found on the lakes of the steppe zone.

Natural areas

Natural areas on the plain extend latitudinally. Zoning is pronounced. Zones and subzones change gradually from north to south: tundra, forest-tundra, forests (forest-bogs), forest-steppe, steppe. Unlike the Russian Plain, there is no zone of mixed and broad-leaved forests, a zone of semi-deserts and deserts. The tundra stretches from the coast of the Kara Sea and almost to the Arctic Circle. The length from north to south is 500-600 km. The polar day and night last here for almost three months. Winter from October to mid-May. The average temperature is from -20˚C in the west to -30˚C in the east. Characterized by winds and blizzards. Snow cover lies around 9months. Summer lasts not much more than one month. The average August temperature is +5˚C, +10˚C (but sometimes the air can warm up to +25˚C). Precipitation per year is 200-300 mm, but most of it is in the warm period. Permafrost is ubiquitous, so the tundra is characterized by solifluction processes, thermokarst, polygons, peat mounds, etc. Lots of swamps and lakes. The soils are tundra-gley. The flora is not rich, only about 300 species of higher plants. Vegetation is especially poor on the coast of the sea, where lichen arctic tundra from cladonia, etc. and lichens grow dwarf birch, willow, alder; in some places on the southern slopes and river valleys — buttercups, flames, crowberry, polar poppy, etc. Reindeer, wolves, arctic foxes, lemmings, voles, white partridges, snowy owls live in summer; many marsh and waterfowl (waders, sandpipers, ducks, geese, etc.).

The forest-tundra stretches in a relatively narrow strip (50-200 km), expanding from the Urals to the Yenisei. It lies along the Arctic Circle and descends further south than on the Russian Plain. The climate is subarctic and more continental than in the tundra. And although the winter here is somewhat shorter, it is more severe. The average temperature in January is -25-30˚C, the absolute minimum is up to -60˚C. Summers are warmer and longer than in the tundra. The average July temperature is +12˚C+14˚C. Permafrost is everywhere. Therefore, again, the permafrost relief prevails, and erosion processes are limited. The zone is crossed by many rivers. The soils are gley-podzolic and permafrost-taiga. To the tundra vegetation here are added sparse forests of larch (their height is 6-8 meters). Dwarf birch is widespread, there are many swamps, and floodplain meadows in river valleys. The fauna is richer than in the tundra, along with representatives of the tundra fauna, there are also inhabitants of the taiga.

Forests (taiga) occupy the largest area of ​​Western Siberia. The length of this zone from north to south is 1100-1200 km, almost from the Arctic Circle to 56˚N. on South. Here, there is an almost equal ratio of forests on the podzolic soils of the taiga and peat-bog soils of sphagnum bogs. Therefore, the taiga of Western Siberia is often called the forest-bog zone. The climate is temperate continental. Continentality increases from west to east. The average January temperature varies from -18˚C in the southwest to -28˚C in the northeast. In winter, anticyclonic weather prevails. Cyclones often pass through the north of the taiga zone. The thickness of the snow cover is 60-100 cm. The summer is relatively long, the growing season is from 3 months. in the north up to 5 months. on South. The average July temperature is from +14˚C in the north to +19˚C in the south. More than half of all precipitation falls in summer. The moisture coefficient is greater than 1 everywhere. Permafrost is widespread in the north of the zone. Lots of swamps and rivers. Bogs of various types, but ridge-hollow peat bogs predominate, there are ridge-lake and swamp bogs. The swamps are confined to the lowest places with stagnant moisture. On the hills, ridges of interfluves, on the terraces of river valleys, coniferous forests of spruce, fir, and cedar grow. In some places there are pine, larch, birch, aspen. To the south of the taiga, 50-200 km wide, stretches a strip of small-leaved forests of birch and, to a lesser extent, aspen, on soddy-podzolic soils. The fauna is represented by Siberian species, but there are also «Europeans» (marten, European mink, otter). The most typical are brown bear, wolverine, lynx, sable, chipmunk, squirrel, fox, wolf, water rat, elk, many birds whose life is associated with coniferous forest (nutcracker, smurf, kuksha, capercaillie, woodpeckers, owls, etc.) , but there are few songbirds (hence the name «deaf taiga»).

The forest-steppe stretches in a narrow strip (150-300 km) from the Urals to the Salair Ridge and Altai. The climate is temperate continental, with severe winters with little snow and hot dry summers. The average temperature in January is -17˚C-20˚C, and in July +18˚C+20˚C, (maximum +41˚C). Snow cover 30-40 cm, annual precipitation 400-450 mm. The moisture coefficient is less than 1. Suffosion processes are typical, there are lakes, some of which are saline. The forest-steppe is a combination of aspen-birch copses on gray forest soils and areas of meadow steppes on chernozems. The forest cover of the zone is from 25% in the north to 5% in the south. The steppes are mostly plowed up. The fauna is represented by forest and steppe species. In the steppes and floodplain meadows, rodents predominate — ground squirrels, hamsters, earth hare, voles, there is a hare. Foxes, wolves, weasels, ermines, polecats, white hare, roe deer, black grouses, partridges are found in the groves, in reservoirs there are a lot of fish.

The steppe zone occupies the extreme south of Western Siberia. Unlike the steppes of the Russian Plain, there are more lakes here, the climate is more continental (little precipitation, cold winters). The average temperature in January is -17˚C-19˚C, and in July +20˚C+22˚C. The annual rainfall is 350-400 mm, with 75% of precipitation falling in summer. Moisture coefficient from 0.7 in the north to 0.5 in the south of the zone. In summer, there are droughts and hot winds, which leads to dust storms. The rivers are transit, small rivers dry up in summer. There are many lakes, mostly of suffusion origin, almost all of them are salty.