Climate in Severnaya Zemlya (Siberia)

Severnaya Zemlya has a polar climate, with temperatures below freezing for most of the year, and around freezing in summer.

Severnaya Zemlya ("Northern Land") is an archipelago with an area of ​​37,000 km2 (14,000 sq mi), belonging to Russia, located in the Arctic Ocean, between the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea, from the 78th to the 81st parallel, north of the Taymyr Peninsula, in Siberia. The main islands are Bolshevik (Большевик), Komsomolets (Комсомолец), Pioneer (Пионер), October Revolution (Октябрьской Революции) and Schmidt (Шмидта).
The archipelago was discovered in 1913. Administratively it belongs to the Krasnoyarsk Territory, whose capital is located much further south.
The northernmost point of all Asia is located in Severnaya Zemlya, in particular, on Komsomolets Island, the Arctic Cape (mys Arktičeskij) is located at 81 degrees north latitude and is 990 km (615 mi) away from the North Pole. The only lands even closer to the pole are, further west, Franz Josef Land, also belonging to Russia but in Europe, and the northernmost part of Greenland and Canada.

Inside the islands there are hills covered with perennial ice, the highest of which is Mount Karpinsky, 963 meters (3,159 feet) high. From the glaciers, ice tongues extend out to the sea. There are also some flat areas where in summer the snow melts, and moss and lichens form.



Compared to the two archipelagos located at about the same latitude but further west, Svalbard and Franz Josef Land, which are partly affected by the Gulf Stream, the climate of Severnaya Zemlya is colder.

The sea is frozen for most of the year, while from July to September or October, the sea ice retreats from the south. For this reason, access by sea is possible only in the summer. However, the extent of the ice varies from year to year.

The wind blows often and with considerable intensity, although it decreases a bit from May to August.

In summer, fog can form.

The sun shines rarely, about 1,000 hours per year, with a maximum from April to June. Given the latitude, the sun is always below the horizon from late October to late February, while it never sets from mid-April to late August.

On Golomyanny Island, located at a latitude of 79 ° N, the average temperature ranges from about -27 °C (-16.5 °F) in February to 1 °C (34 °F) in July.
During cold waves, the temperature drops below -35 °C (-31 °F) almost every year, and quite often below -40 °C (-40 °F). The coldest record is -50.7 °C (-59.3 °F), set in March 1969. In January 1964, the daily average was -36.5 °C (-33.7 °F).
On milder days, temperatures typically reach around 0 °C (32 °F) in May and October, and 5/6 °C (41/43 °F) in July and August. The highest record is 11.5 °C (52.7 °F), reached in August 2020.
Here are the average temperatures.

Precipitation is scarce, around 185 mm (7 inches) per year. It occurs as snow for most of the year, while from June to September, it can also occur as rain. A stable snowpack forms in mid-September and disappears by the end of June.
Here is the average precipitation.